Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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331. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the programme of works being carried out on tertiary roads and culs-de-sac, by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8965/16]

Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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332. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the uptake of the community involvement scheme over its lifetime, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8966/16]

Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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333. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport why the local improvement scheme is not operational; and his plans to reintroduce the scheme for non-county roads to allow the many families living on such roads an opportunity to travel to and from their homes safely. [8967/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 331 to 333, inclusive, together.

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.

There has been a longstanding provision for local authorities to seek community involvement in the improvement and maintenance work on suitable local roads and to facilitate this, local authorities are permitted to allocate a portion of their State grant funding to eligible schemes.

As indicated previously to the Deputy a separate Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) pilot scheme did operate for two years in 2013 and 2014. Following its completion CIS reverted to the position where local authorities may set aside 7.5% of their RI and RM grants for CIS schemes if they so wish.  Applications under the scheme are made directly to the local authority and managed by it.

The Local Improvement Scheme also remains in place for 2016.  This Scheme provides funding for private roads and laneways, the maintenance and improvement of which is, in the first instance, a matter for the relevant landowner.  While the LIS does not have a ring-fenced allocation, local authorities may use a proportion of State grant funding for LIS should they wish to do so. 

As the operation of both the CIS and LIS schemes are managed locally by the local authority, my Department does not have details of the schemes undertaken in local areas or the costs involved.  A table is provided showing the uptake for the pilot CIS operated by my Department in 2013 and 2014.

There are no proposals at present to reintroduce a separate allocation for CIS or LIS.  It is my view that each local authority is best placed to decide on allocations for these two schemes taking into account the own resource and grant funding available to it. In this context I continue to emphasise to local authorities the importance of prioritising roads maintenance when allocating own resources.