Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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In relation to the portion of the Deputy’s question on Carlow Southern Relief Road, and in line with my response delivered to the Deputy’s previous Oral PQ (53212/23) on the progress of the scheme, the Strategic Assessment Report (SAR) has been approved and Carlow County Council was given clearance to proceed to prepare a Preliminary Business Case. Carlow County Council is currently in the process of progressing this Business Case. In 2023, the Council also sought to appoint a dedicated resource to manage the scheme/Preliminary Business Case and the Department understands that this resource was recently appointed and is now in place.

With regards to the relief road for Tullow, it is important to highlight that 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 local authorities' own resources supplemented by State road grants. Of these grants, the vast majority (approximately 90%) are targeted at the maintenance and renewal of the network with c. 10% of the remaining funding invested in new roads/bridges or for road realignments.

Any new road projects that seek funding are assessed by the Department on a case-by-case basis. All projects proposed by local authorities for consideration must comply with the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines (formerly the Public Spending Code) and my Department's Transport Appraisal Framework. Given the limited funding available for regional and local road improvement works it is important for local authorities to prioritise projects within their overall area of responsibility with these requirements in mind.

My Department has received a preliminary appraisal application from the Council in relation to the R418-R725 Junction in Tullow. All applications received from local authorities are currently being assessed taking into account competing projects and the available budget. Grant allocations for 2024 will be notified to local authorities in the coming weeks.