Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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191. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider in conjunction with the Minister for Transport introducing a small grant for example of €60 per km for landowners and farmers to cut roadside hedges and €100 per km to cut roadside trees, ensuring the safety of all road users given increasing strong winds and storms here (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8837/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is a statutory function of each road authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993.

Works on regional and local roads are funded by local authorities' own resources supplemented by State grants. Within the overall resources available to it, the selection and prioritisation of works including the maintenance of road verges is a matter for each local authority.

With regard to national roads, 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 Infrastructure Guidelines and the necessary statutory approvals.

Section 70 of the Roads Act 1993 sets out the responsibility of landowners to take all reasonable steps to ensure that trees, hedges and other vegetation growing on their land are not, or could not become, a danger to people using a public road or interfere with the safe use of a public road or the maintenance of a public road.

A local authority can serve notice requiring a landowner to take action to address a hazard. This section also allows the relevant road authority to step in where a landowner fails or is unable to take action to remedy a hazard and to seek recovery of reasonable costs from the landowner. This is, therefore, a matter for management between the landowner and the relevant local authority.