Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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217. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has carried out a feasibility or cost benefit analysis on the development of a Dundalk to Sligo road as a Border corridor. [15136/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​The proposal for a East-West Road Corridor from Dundalk to Sligo encompasses both national and regional roads.

In relation to the national element as Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. I have referred the Deputy's question to TII for direct reply.  Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

As regards the regional road aspect of the proposal, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads in its area is a statutory function of local authorities in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act, 1993. Works on such roads are a matter for the relevant local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants. My Department has provided funding to Cavan County Council (acting as lead authority with Monaghan and Louth County Councils) in recent years to progress the regional road element of the project to preliminary design stage. As part of that process a multi-criteria analysis and initial cost/benefit analysis of route options was undertaken.

Given the cutbacks in State funding for regional and local roads since the financial crisis, it has been necessary to curtail the grant programme for major new regional and local road schemes and for major realignment schemes in order to protect the funding available for the maintenance of the existing network. Funding is not, therefore, available to progress the scheme further at this point.