Mayo TD Michael Ring has queried the level of funding awarded to Mayo County Council in regard to roads in the county, following on from the recent cold spells that have caused serious damage to road surfaces in the county.
Deputy Ring raised the issue with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Eamon Ryan, in the Dail last week.
In response, Minister Ryan stated: "There are two primary sources of roads funding - the regional and local roads programme and the national roads programme. In relation to regional and local roads, the improvement and maintenance of same 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 local authorities' own resources supplemented by State road grants which are allocated on an annual basis.
"Under the Department's Discretionary Grant, Councils have the discretion to use grant funding for eligible winter maintenance works. In this context it is a matter for each Council to determine its winter road treatment programme including the prioritisation of routes for salting/gritting.
"In addition, local authorities are advised by my Department that a contingency provision should be reserved from the overall resources available to each local authority for regional and local roads so as to deal with damage caused by severe weather conditions.
"As regards the maintenance funding allocated to Mayo County Council in 2022 for regional and local roads, details of those grant allocations to local authorities are outlined in the regional and local road allocations booklets which are available in the Oireachtas Library. Allocations for 2023 will be notified to local authorities as soon as possible.
"In relation to national roads, as Minister for Transport I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII ), 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 TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Public Spending Code and the necessary statutory approvals. In this context, TII is best placed to advise you. Noting the above position, I have referred your question, on this occasion, to TII for a direct reply. "
