Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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821. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if Donegal County Council have applied for funding to replace the Mulantyboyle Bridge in Glenties, County Donegal; if he will consider making funding available to replace this important local access that has been collapsed for over three years now; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8055/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads, including bridges, in its area, is a statutory function of each road authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act, 1993.  Works on such roads or bridges are a matter for the relevant local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the Council. Donegal County Council were paid €77,361 in 2013 under the Specific Improvement Grant Scheme in respect of Mulantyboyle Bridge. The detailed design and contract documents for a replacement bridge have been completed.

Given the need to prioritise funding for repair and strengthening works, the Specific Improvement Grants Scheme has been curtailed in 2014. Provision is still being made for minor bridge repair and rehabilitation works. In this context Donegal County Council has been allocated €200,000 for Bridge Rehabilitation works in the 2014. However to construct a replacement bridge for Mulantyboyle would cost in the order of €600,000. It is important to reiterate that the role of the Exchequer grant aid is to supplement Councils' own resource spending on regional and local roads.