John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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25. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the level of funding which was allocated to Waterford Council for the year 2014 regarding roads; the portion of this allocation that was spent on resurfacing; his views that the council's current process of spot fixing potholes is not the most economical way to allocate funds and is not solving the problem; if the allocation for 2015 will be sufficient to begin a wide scale resurfacing of the most badly affected roads in the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45862/14]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and  funding in relation to the national roads programme. The construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads (including national road schemes in County Waterford), is a matter for the National Roads Authority under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Noting this I have referred the Deputy's question to the NRA for direct reply.  Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

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. 

Details of the 2014 regional and local road allocations to all local authorities (including Waterford) are available in the Dail library, including the allocations for maintenance and improvement works. In addition Waterford County Council received an additional special allocation of €3.878 million to repair roads damaged by severe weather. This was the highest such allocation received across all counties.  The economic reality of recent years has meant significant reductions in roads budgets across the board and a focus on road maintenance and repair programmes. It is important to reiterate that the role of Exchequer grants for regional and local roads is to supplement local authorities in their spending in this area.

No decision has been made on the 2015 road allocations to date and I expect to announce details in January next year.