Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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112. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of plans and arrangements for bridge realignments and replacements in County Kildare including Celbridge, which is experiencing acute traffic congestion; if he has examined all options and audited the requests in the County, with a view to early action; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8623/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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​The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads in Kildare is the statutory responsibility of Kildare County Council, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993-2015. Works on those roads are funded from the Council's own resources supplemented by State road grants.  The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the Council.

In recent years, in order to protect funding for road maintenance and repair, certain regional and local road improvement grant programmes funded by my Department have had to be been curtailed but funding for bridge rehabilitation has been maintained.  Local authorities are aware that it is a matter for each Council to determine its regional and local road priorities and its work programme each year and to allocate funding accordingly.  I have also been emphasising to local authorities the importance of prioritising expenditure on roads when allocating own resources, including revenue from Local Property Tax receipts.

In January this year, I announced the 2016 regional and local road allocations, of which Kildare County Council was allocated €9.9m including €203,000 in respect of bridge rehabilitation works at four bridges.