Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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748. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will repair a piece of infrastructure (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9529/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads, including bridges, is a statutory function of each road authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993.  The carrying out of works on these roads and bridges is 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 projects to be funded is also a matter for the council.

A total of almost €332 million is being provided to local authorities for regional and local roads in 2014.  From this allocation, Kerry County Council is being provided with a total of approximately €12.75 million.

In 2013, local authorities were invited to submit proposals for funding in 2014 for the repair of bridges.  Kerry County Council submitted 3 applications for funding in 2014 but the Valentia Bridge was not among the Council’s proposals.  It is open to Kerry County Council to prioritise the Valentia Bridge scheme for funding and to submit this project for funding in 2015 when applications are sought in due course.  Alternatively, the local authority may fund this project through its own resources.