Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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179. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount of funding that has been allocated to Kerry County Council through the safety improvement works programme on regional and local roads from 2019 to 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17880/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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In accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, each local authority has statutory responsibility for the improvement and maintenance of their regional and local roads. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities' own resources and are supplemented by State Road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the local authority.

Within the budget available to the Department, State grant funding is allocated on as fair and equitable a basis as possible to ensure that all local authorities are in receipt of funds to maintain the network. The allocation of the three biggest exchequer grant types (restoration maintenance, restoration improvement, and discretionary grants) are based on the length of regional and local roads within a local authority’s area, with additional weighting based on contributing traffic factors in specific areas.

The Department seeks applications each October for consideration for funding of safety improvement works on regional and local roads to be carried out by local authorities in the following year. The schemes for inclusion in the application are decided by the individual local authorities.

Kerry County Council Safety Improvement Grant Allocation 2019-2024

Kerry County Council is responsible the implementation of their annual programme for road maintenance and the Department has no role in that process.