Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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158. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide consideration to a motion adopted by the Carrickmacross-Castleblayney municipal district, County Monaghan in respect of funding for road improvement works (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10679/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, 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 such 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 early February, I announced the 2015 regional and local road grant allocations and Monaghan County Council was allocated €7.1m in regional and local road funding this year. No further funding is available.  While Councils could apply in the past for grant funding for certain road improvement projects, budgetary constraints mean that the Specific Improvement Grants Scheme has been curtailed in order to maximise the funding available for repair and strengthening work of the road network.

While funding for 2015 has now been allocated it is important to reiterate that the role of Exchequer grants for regional and local roads is to supplement Councils like Monaghan County Council in their own resources spending in this area.