Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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230. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of new active transport infrastructure projects completed in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51369/22]

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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231. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of upgraded active transport infrastructure projects completed in 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51370/22]

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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232. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details of active transport infrastructure completed in 2021 including location of delivery, length of active transport route at each location, cost of project and nature of work completed in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51372/22]

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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234. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details of all the proposed active transport projects that applied for funding in 2021 but were incomplete by the end of Q4 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51374/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 230, 231, 232 and 234 together.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for the policy and overall funding in relation to Active Travel. In 2021, approximately €313 million was allocated through the National Transport Authority (NTA) to local authorities to fund walking and cycling around the country. The NTA works with the local authorities to determine funding for specific projects and oversees their development.

While this investment marked a large increase in the delivery and expenditure on Active Travel between 2020 and 2021, there was a significant under-spend last year compared to available funds. Factors constraining delivery of Active Travel infrastructure in 2021 included the impact of COVID restrictions, planning issues and staffing constraints. In 2022, however, many of the larger budgets and projects have now bedded-in, new staff are being recruited by the local authorities, and the situation is improving. We expect a much higher draw-down on available funds this year leading to increased delivery.

Noting the NTA's role in the matter, I have referred your specific questions to that agency for a more detailed reply . Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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233. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details of the funds allocated to each local authority in 2021; the amount of funds unspent, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51373/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Deputy,

My Department issued funds to local authorities in 2021 in a wide range of areas. The areas included regional and local road improvement and maintenance, active travel, greenways and Electric Vehicle grant funding.  Funds directly disbursed by the Department to local authorities are tabulated below.

Table 1: EV Grants

Table 2: Environmental Remediation Works

Table 3: Greenways

The EV grant is for a pilot Community Mobility Charging Hub in Finglas which launched in September 2022. Following the transfer of New Ross Port to Wexford Council in 2019, the Department agreed to provide funding towards the remediation of some port sites which presented a potential for serious contamination or environmental risk. 

The development of the Greenway network is now managed directly by TII, including the allocation of funding following agreement between the Department and TII during the course of 2021. The Department issued the 2021 grant funding round. Reasons for expenditure delays include planning and construction delays, and restrictions caused by Covid-19 health measures, which exacerbated these delays. In addition, €20m capital funding "carried over" from 2020 meant that some grant allocations for 2021 were not spent as Councils continued to spend the 2020 grant allocations on delayed projects. 

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for the policy and overall funding in relation to Active Travel.  The National Transport Authority (NTA) in turn allocates this funding to local authorities and works with them to determine funding for specific projects and to oversee project development.

In 2021, €285.13 million was allocated to the National Transport Authority (NTA) to fund walking and cycling around the country. Noting the NTA's role in relation to this matter, I have referred your question to that agency for a detailed reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.

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.  The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.

In terms of the regional and local road grant funding allocated to each Local Authority in 2021, details of the regional and local road grant allocations to local authorities are outlined in the regional and local road allocations booklets which are available in the Oireachtas Library. As regards the funding drawn down by each Local Authority in 2021, this is reflected in the regional and local road payments booklets which are also available in the Oireachtas Library.