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.

As regards State funding for regional and local roads, there were major cutbacks in funding for the road network in general during the post 2008 recession. 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. In this context, this year Cavan County Council received a total allocation of €15,484,815 and Monaghan County Council received a total allocation of €16,006,398, including funding for a number of pilot schemes relating to road materials.

I also recently announced the details of a €17.3 million investment package for climate adaptation works on regional and local roads with a view to making the network more resilient. Cavan County Council received an allocation of €522,050 and Monaghan County Council received an allocation of €440,000.

My Department is currently providing grant support under the Strategic Improvement Grant Programme to Cavan County Council for the East West route. The Department is currently liaising with the Council in relation to carrying out a risk based analysis for the route between Dundalk and Cavan.

Monaghan County Council received an allocation of €100,000 this year under the Strategic Improvement Grant Programme for the N2 to N12 Link road (Monaghan Business Park) in order to facilitate detailed appraisal of the scheme.