Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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275. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is aware of the crisis situation regarding the condition of County Wexford’s local, secondary and tertiary roads network, which are among the worst in the country; if he acknowledges County Wexford’s poor position in relation to other counties, as documented in recent and historic National Oversight and Audit Commission road condition surveys ; If he will acknowledge that it was previously stated that counties, such as County Wexford, which funded a higher-than-average percentage of its local road maintenance from their own local budgets would be compensated, something that never happened in County Wexford’s case; if he will accept that roads funding for counties such as Wexford, where almost one third of local roads are in need of "total reconstruction", should be on the basis of road condition, not just road network length; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10713/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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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, which are supplemented by State grants for regional and local roads.

On 14th February 2025 I announced an Exchequer investment of €713 million for our regional and local roads across the State which represents an overall increase of over 8% in funding this year. The main focus of the grants continues to be the protection and renewal of the regional and local road network.

Within the budget available for the regional and local road grant programme, 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. It is envisaged that grants will continue to be made available on that basis.

Basing regional and local roads grant allocations on road conditions could result in an unequitable distribution of Exchequer funding. For example, local authorities that allocate higher levels of own resources funding to regional and local roads will have a larger proportion of roads with a higher condition rating than those with lower levels of own resources funding. Basing allocations on road condition could therefore disincentivise local authorities from allocating own resources funding to roads maintenance.

Within the budget available to my Department, grant funding is allocated on the basis of grant programmes and not on the basis of the category of road. The allocation of funding across specific roads or across categories is a matter for each local authority, having regard to the funding available to it from local and central sources as well as its particular priorities.

The main Regional and Local Road Grant programmes are focussed on specific policy objectives i.e. surface sealing to protect the road surface from water damage, road strengthening based on pavement condition rating to lengthen the life of roads and a Discretionary Grant Scheme which allows for a specified range of activities including winter maintenance. These 3 grant programmes account for most of the grant funding and are allocated taking into account the length of the road network and traffic factors in a particular local authority area. Apart from a requirement that 15% of the road strengthening grant is spent on regional roads, the allocation of funding to different categories of road is entirely a matter for decision by each local authority.

My Department does operate a Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) to facilitate local community participation (on a voluntary basis) in the repair of local roads. The focus of the programme is on the repair of more lightly trafficked public roads which might not be high on the list of a local authority's annual roadwork programme.

In order to allow for sufficient planning and applications for this scheme, local authorities are invited to apply for funding for CIS projects for a two-year programme with the latest round of applications received in 2023 for the 2024/2025 period.

The 2025 regional and local road grants were notified to local authorities on 14th February this year and Wexford County Council received an allocation of €23,310,350 which includes €614,350 for the CIS.

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.