Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 260: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason under the terms and conditions of grants available under the smarter travel funding scheme, that local authorities are compelled to contract out the work involved, and are not allowed to charge any labour costs of the scheme, notwithstanding, that the type of works involved would be entirely appropriate for local authority staff particularly in the context where this type of work and the funding would be important to the local authorities when they are struggling to keep their outdoor staff employed; and if same can be reviewed in this context; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17448/12]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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In 2011 funding of €10 million was allocated by my Department for projects by County Councils outside the Greater Dublin Area under the Smarter Travel Jobs Initiative Scheme which was intended to support a switch to sustainable and active travel through the delivery of infrastructure projects and to provide employment in doing so.

The funding, available in 2011 only, was used to support labour intensive projects which aimed to address one or more objectives identified in the Smarter Travel policy. A key criterion for projects selected under this initiative was that the prospective employment generation content of the projects submitted was identified.

In framing the terms of the scheme, my Department was very keen to ensure that job creation and maintenance was given the highest possible priority and concluded that funding might be most usefully directed towards projects delivered by the private sector, which had particular exposure to job losses. The intention was that whatever work arose or services might be required would be procured under the normal rules from third parties / outside contractors (and managed in the usual manner by the local authority). This is common practice for project delivery in the local authority sector and was seen as the most robust way of either creating or maintaining jobs in the shortest possible time span.

There is no specific funding support available under a Smarter Travel Jobs Initiative Scheme in 2012. However, I am also pleased that strong levels of investment in smarter travel have been secured under the multi-annual capital funding framework to 2016 which will be invested in smarter travel infrastructure under a range of new programmes to be established this year. It is not currently envisaged that there will be specific criteria in regard to employment generation under these programmes.