Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 58 together.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority and Exchequer funding is intended to supplement local authorities’ own resources.

As regards the position in relation to grant funding, as indicated previously, the Department’s capital ceilings are set under the National Development Plan and therefore the scope for additional funding is limited to either identifying opportunities that might exist from year-to-year whereby progress in some programmes and projects might result in funding availability for others at Estimates time, or monitoring in-year expenditure to see if any scope arises for the transfer of funding between programmes. As regards in-year expenditure, drawdown is kept under ongoing review to see if the question of transfers within the Department’s Vote should be considered.

It should be noted that Exchequer funding for regional and local roads is intended to supplement realistic contributions from local authorities’ own resources. As the statutory road authorities for their areas, it is open to local authorities to prioritise investment on regional and local roads.