Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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468. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his Department's latest estimate of the notional steady-state expenditure required to maintain regional and local roads in their current condition, by county, per year; and if he will provide details of the assumptions made in the analysis. [35660/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As part of work to determine a Strategic Framework for Investment in Land Transport, my Department's Economic and Financial Evaluation Unit assessed and estimated the level of expenditure required to maintain the current transport system in its 'steady state'.  This analysis looked at the whole transport network, one element of which is the regional and local road network.

The full details of the analysis, in terms of output, methodology and assumptions are contained within 'Background Paper 13: Analysis of Steady State Cost of Transport in Ireland', which is published on both my Department's website and the website of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES).

The analysis conducted does not include a regional breakdown of costs. The estimate is based on industry standards, asset management best practice and conservative cost estimates. As set out in the table below, the estimate is based on a minimum annual output of: providing surface sealing on 5% of the network; road strengthening on 5% of the network; and general maintenance and repairs on the totality. The analysis points towards a conservative estimate of €580 million per annum to keep the regional and local road network in a steady state condition.  A breakdown by road type is included in the table.