Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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190.To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will allocate additional revenue to local authorities in Budget 2025 to put towards road safety signage and road safety markings, given the large increase in road traffic fatalities to date this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31399/24]

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

My Department provides grant assistance to local authorities under the Regional and Local Road Grant Programme for a number of targeted programmes, including the Safety Improvement Programme. Applications are sought each year from local authorities under this programme for consideration for funding in the subsequent year. Works funded under this programme include road markings and signage.

In 2024, €658 million was allocated to Regional and Local Road Grants, with approximately 90% of this funding being directed towards maintenance and renewal works. This represents an overall grant funding allocation increase of 5% from 2023. On 31st May 2024, I announced additional funding of €30 million to local authorities through Restoration Improvement (RI) Grants following persistent rainfall over winter and spring. In 2024, over €10.5 million was allocated under the Safety Improvement Grant Programme to regional and local roads for 261 schemes across the State.

The 2025 regional and local road grant allocations will be finalised following the publication of the Revised Estimates Volume and will take into account the expenditure outturn on projects and programmes in the preceding year. Within the budget available, the objective is to allocate funding to eligible local authorities on as equitable a basis as possible taking the length of the road network into account. The main focus of the grants continues to be the protection and renewal of the regional and local road network.

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Public Spending Code and the necessary statutory approvals.

Approximately €411m in capital exchequer funding was allocated to local authorities through TII for the purposes of national roads in 2024. This includes funding for new roads projects, as well as for the protection and renewal of the existing network, including safety improvements. An additional €32.85 million in current funding was provided to local authorities for the regular maintenance of the network.

The allocation of exchequer funding for national roads is an annual process and the allocations for 2025 have not yet been finalised.