Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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613. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress as provided under the programme for Government on capital budget for local and regional roads and the commitment to increase this budget by approximately 50%; the capital expenditure that has been allocated for 2016 and 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53720/17]

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 local authority's 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.

The Capital Plan published in September 2015 outlined proposed transport investment priorities to 2022. The transport element of the plan was framed by the conclusions reached in my Department's Strategic Investment Framework for Land Transport. This report highlighted the importance of maintenance and renewal of transport infrastructure together with targeted investments to address particular bottlenecks and critical safety issues. The bulk of the funding allocated under the Capital Plan and the increased funding allocated under the Capital Plan Review is earmarked for the maintenance and strengthening of the existing extensive network throughout the country together with some targeted road improvement projects.

The Plan provides for the phased increase in capital funding and in this context 2018 will see a significant increase in funding for regional and local roads.  Capital expenditure for 2016 and the allocation for 2017 is included in the Regional and Local Road payment and allocation booklets which are available in the Dáil Library.  The expenditure figure for 2016 of €331.5 million includes the extra funding allocated by Government to assist local authorities with road repairs resulting from damage caused by severe weather in late 2015 and early 2016. It is envisaged that the 2017 allocation of €280.6 million will increase by about €100 million (including €10 million to assist Donegal County Council with road repairs caused by the severe weather in August 2017) in 2018.