Road maintenance reform for Fingal County Council

A new Government initiative for road maintenance funding will lead to improved road conditions on local and regional roads in Dublin Fingal and more decision making autonomy for councillors, according to Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell.

“Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar T.D. has announced a reformed method of allocating funding for road restoration to local authorities. This will result in greater flexibility for county councils to manage funds for the repair and resurfacing of local and regional roads.

“This year Fingal County Council has been allocated over €2 million for road restoration. Until now, the local authority could only access only 10% of this allocation for road filling and resurfacing works. These repairs are vital to ensure safe driving conditions and are badly needed on some of our roads in Fingal.

“The remaining bulk of this money could only be accessed for road reconstruction projects. Now the local authority can decide where to focus its resources based on what is actually needed.

“The flexibility to draw down Department funding for a wider range of repairs is a tool that the council can now use to improve their ability to fix roads more efficiently and effectively.

“Reform is about identifying a smarter way to use the funds we have in order to achieve the maximum benefit for the taxpayer, and to ensure that we can deliver safer roads for drivers and pedestrians.

“I think this is a step in the right direction towards increased accountability of local authorities and its elected representatives.   I commend Minister Varadkar and the local authorities for coming together to rethink their approach toward road safety.