Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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47. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide additional finance to Meath County Council to re-surface the roads in exceptionally poor condition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17359/26]

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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48. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide a breakdown of his Department funding allocated to, but not spent by Meath County Council, on road projects, for the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17360/26]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 48 together.

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. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the local authority.

On 17th February I announced an Exchequer investment of €718 million in our regional and local roads across the State. This will facilitate an increase in funding allocation of €26 million this year for road protection and renewal works.

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 2026, Meath County Council has been allocated a total of €26,862,000. Of this, €25,637,000 has been allocated for the protection and renewal of Meath's regional and local roads. This is an increase from the initial 2025 allocation of €25,367,800 for protection and renewal grants.

As regards the total funding allocated to and drawn down by Meath County Council by grant type for the years 2020-2025, details of the regional and local road allocations and payments to local authorities are outlined in the regional and local road allocations and payments booklets which are available on the Oireachtas Digital Library.

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 also open to local authorities to prioritise investment on regional and local 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.

National roads allocations for years 2020 -2026 are available at: www.tii.ie/en/tii-library/reports-accounts/.

I have referred the question to TII for a direct reply regarding funding allocated to Meath County Council. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.