Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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31. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of light poles on the M50, including the on and off roads; and the annual cost of maintaining same. [16202/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As Minister for Transport I have responsibility for overall policy and securing exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme.  Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.This is also subject to the Public Spending Code Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals.  In this context, TII is best placed to advise you.

Noting the above position, I have referred your question to TII for a direct reply.  Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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32. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if additional funding will be made available for the non-national road network in 2021; if there is a slower-than-expected drawdown in capital funding in other subheadings of the Estimate of his Department; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is an urgent need to provide a greater level of investment in the non-national road network in counties such as Cavan and Monaghan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16207/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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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 Council's own resources supplemented by State road grants.  

The National Development Plan (NDP), as it stands, provides for a gradual increase in funding for regional and local roads and there has been a significant increase in Exchequer funding particularly in the last four years. Funding is not yet at the level needed for the adequate maintenance and renewal of regional and local roads and so for this reason, the primary focus for capital investment continues to be the maintenance and renewal of the network with some limited investment in road improvement projects.

On 15th February I announced the details of a €555 million investment programme for 2021 for regional and local roads and all but €15 million of this amount has now been allocated. Cavan County Council received a total allocation of €15,484,815 for 2021 and  Monaghan County Council received a total allocation of €16,006,398, including funding for a number of pilot schemes relating to road materials. 

Applications have been sought from local authorities (including Cavan and Monaghan) for climate adaptation works on regional and local roads which will make the network more resilient. The €15 million which is unallocated to date will be used to make a further round of allocations in the near future once applications have been received and assessed.

As regards the Department's budgets more generally, drawdown on capital spending varies from month to month and it is too soon to determine whether any slower than expected drawdowns at the start of the year will lead to a gross capital underspend for the entire year. In addition, as capital is allocated to support specific investment programmes and projects, in the first instance it will need to be determined whether the capital should be ‘carried’ into the next fiscal year to continue to support the programmes and projects in question.