Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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268. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the date on which the specific improvement grants were closed; and his plans to reopen this grant. [35551/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the local authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. 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.

The extent of the cutbacks in grant funding during the recession meant that the position in relation to Specific and Strategic grants had to be reviewed in 2013. Because of the cuts, expenditure on maintenance/renewal was falling well short of what was required to maintain the regional and local road network adequately. For this reason the then Minister informed Government in February 2013 that given the impact of the expenditure cuts on maintenance/renewal of roads the decision had to be made to prioritise expenditure on the protection of the existing network and to curtail road improvement grants with effect from 2014.

Since then the main focus of the grant programme has been on maintenance/renewal including bridge rehabilitation.  In this context my Department is not operating a general application process for Specific and Strategic grants at present.

Where funding is being provided for Specific Grant type projects, it is primarily to meet existing commitments, address important safety issues and progress projects included in the Capital Investment Plan.  While 2017 will see a modest increase in funding for regional and local roads, it will still take some years for funding to reach "steady state" levels and the main focus in 2017 will continue to be on maintenance and renewal.  It is expected the 2017 allocations will be announced early in the new year.

It is open to Councils to fund road improvement projects from their own resources.  The purpose of Exchequer funding is to supplement the own resources of local authorities, not to meet the full cost of schemes.