Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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89. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when he will meet with the elected members of the Letterkenny Municipal District, Donegal County Council to discuss the urgent need to fund a number of relief roads and by passes around the town of Letterkenny to address the serious traffic delays at certain times of the day, every day. [63484/25]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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As the Deputy is aware, 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 these roads are funded from Councils’ own resources and 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.

It is important to highlight that 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.

The Letterkenny Southern Network Project aims to develop the transport network around the South of Letterkenny town, to provide connectivity from Letterkenny to West Donegal, improve traffic congestion, support compact growth, and encourage modal shift. The scheme received an allocation of €300,000 in 2025 to progress the scheme through the options selection stage. The planning and implementation of the project is the responsibility of Donegal County Council.

I can confirm that the Donegal TEN-T Priority Route Improvement Project has been allocated €2,020,000 for 2025. As part of this, three sections of the road network in Donegal have been prioritised for improvement, including the N56/N13 Letterkenny to Manorcunningham road.

This project received Government Approval in Principle at Gate 1 of the Infrastructure Guidelines in July 2024. The remaining Design and Environmental Evaluation Phase deliverables are being finalised. The submission of the scheme to An Coimisiún Pleanála is now anticipated in the first quarter of 2026.

Finally I would ask that any request for a meeting would, in the first instance, be directed to Minister O'Brien's office at ministerdiary@transport.gov.ie.