Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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372. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will give further consideration to the provision of additional funding in 2025 for the non-national road network, particularly in areas such as Carlow and Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30459/25]

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 and Exchequer funding is intended to supplement local authorities’ own resources.

On 14th February I announced an Exchequer investment of €713 million in our regional and local roads across the State which represents an overall increase of over 8% in funding this year.

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. The main focus of the grants continues to be the protection and renewal of the regional and local road network.

In 2025, Carlow County Council received an allocation of €8,946,800 which is an increase of €1,011,350 on their 2024 allocation and Kilkenny County Council received an allocation of €19,570,700 which is an increase of €1,775,660.

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.