Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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1271. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the grant allocation to each local authority in each of the years 2016 to 2018 and to date 2019 for each of the three main grant categories - restoration improvement, discretionary grant and restoration maintenance - for regional and local roads; the amount expended in each year to date; and the amount paid out to date out as a percentage of the amount allocated to each local authority in each year in tabular form. [18523/19]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant 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. Details of the regional and local road grant allocations and payments to local authorities are outlined in the regional and local road grant booklets which are available in the Oireachtas Library.

The table below shows the amount drawn-down to date in 2019 for each of the 3 grant programmes mentioned by the Deputy.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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1272. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if separate funding is provided for footpath refurbishment and construction in view of insufficient roads maintenance funds available to carry out such works on district roads. [18524/19]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads (including footways and footpaths) in its area, is a statutory responsibility of each road authority 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. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.

In February this year, I announced the €483.3m investment programme for regional and local roads in 2018, which is an increase of about 16% on the 2018 allocation. From this investment, funding for the Discretionary Grant (DG) programme has increased significantly in 2019 to €82.1 million. Councils have discretion to use DG grants for a range of eligible works which includes footways. It is, therefore, open to local authorities to fund these types of works from their DG allocation. It is also the case that, where appropriate, grants provided under certain other grant headings may make some provision for footways. A Council can also provide funding for footways from its own resources should it so wish. In this context Exchequer grant funding is intended to supplement expenditure by Councils on the road network.

My Department allocates funding at local authority level and allocations to individual Municipal Districts are a matter for the Council.