Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 120: To ask the Minister for Transport if supplementary funding will be provided to Cork County Council for necessary roads repair works arising from the recent weather conditions in view of the fact that the northern division of the county council has suspended its planned roads restoration programme in view of the emergency maintenance. [13384/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

When deciding on the allocation of over €412 million in Exchequer regional and local road grants for 2010 my priority was to protect the existing investment in the roads network and to carefully target resources to address, on a priority basis, the most urgently required repairs resulting from the extensive damage caused by the recent severe weather. With that in mind, I simplified the grants structure and gave more flexibility to local authorities to direct funding to these priorities.

These grants, which supplement expenditure by local authorities from their own resources, represent a very significant investment at a time when public finances are under severe pressure. They bring the total Exchequer investment in regional and local roads since 1997 to over €6 billion. There is no additional Exchequer funding available to me to supplement the €42.38 million provided to Cork County Council.