Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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246. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for an update on the provision of a new bridge to replace the existing Lennox bridge which connects Kinlough in County Leitrim to Bundoran and Ballyshannon in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33625/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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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. Of these grants, the vast majority (approximately 90%) are targeted at the maintenance and renewal of the network with c. 10% of the remaining funding invested in new roads/bridges or for road realignments.

Any new road projects that seek State funding are assessed by the Department on a case-by-case basis. All projects proposed by local authorities for consideration must comply with the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines (formerly the Public Spending Code) and the Department's Transport Appraisal Framework. Given the limited funding available for regional and local road improvement works it is important for local authorities to prioritise projects within their overall area of responsibility with these requirements in mind.

Leitrim County Council presented a Preliminary Project Appraisal for the R280 Lennox Bridge Replacement Scheme in 2019. Between 2021 and 2023, Leitrim County Council received an allocation of €500,000, of which funding of €145,096 was drawn down for the scheme. An Options Report for Lennox Bridge was submitted by Leitrim County Council to the Department in 2023.

The Department responded to this report with concerns regarding the difficulty in achieving alignment with the Modal Hierarchy and Intervention Hierarchy of the National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland (NIFTI), which was published in December 2021. As such, the Department deemed it was not in a position to approve the development of this bridge project beyond this point and communicated to Leitrim County Council its openness to future proposals that would specifically address the matter of safety at the bridge. The Department of Transport engages with Leitrim County County on a regular basis and is currently funding a number of projects, including, the development of tender documentation for a proposed new Shannon Crossing to replace Hartley Bridge, Cleaheen, Co Leitrim.