Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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196. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the estimated cost of increasing the road improvement and maintenance budget by 20%, excluding the cost of toll payments. [33337/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads (RLR) 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 Councils’ own resources supplemented by State road grants, where applicable. Arising from the arrangements in place in relation to Local Property Tax receipts, the four Dublin Councils are largely self-funding for works on regional and local roads since 2015 and my Department no longer provides grants to these Councils under the main regional and local road grant categories.

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 Revised Estimates Volume (REV) allocation for regional and local roads in 2021 is €555 million and to increase this by 20% would require additional funding of €111 million.

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 maintenance 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.