Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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190. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if additional funding will be provided for the non-national road network in areas such as counties Cavan and Monaghan in the event of a reallocation of capital funding within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44413/21]

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 Councils' own resources supplemented by State road grants, where applicable.

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

I announced the 2021 regional and local road allocations in February 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.

In addition, in June I 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. All regional and local road grant funding available to my Department has now been allocated and further allocations are not anticipated at this time.