Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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205. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will, as a matter of urgency, make available the required funding for the provision of a much needed pedestrian crossing on an area (details supplied) in County Kerry; if he will accept that this is major health and safety issue and take into consideration the fact that there is a significant general pedestrian usage apart from school generated pedestrian traffic in this busy tourist village; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42543/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities own resources supplemented by State road grants.  The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.

In July this year local authorities were invited by the National Roads Authority to submit applications for consideration for funding in 2014 under the Low Cost Safety Improvement Scheme. The Council may wish to prioritise this project and include it in its applications for consideration under this grant category when they are submitted in due course. Alternatively, it is also open to Kerry County Council to fund this project from its Discretionary Grant.

It is also important to reiterate that the role of Exchequer grants for regional and local roads is to supplement Councils like Kerry County Council in their own resources spending in this area and it is open to the Council to undertake this work from its own resources.