Funds for national road improvements halved

The amount of money given by the Government to councils for national road improvements has been cut by half in a year, the State’s financial watchdog has revealed.

Funds released to local authorities dropped from €503m in 2012 to €232m last year, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General’s annual report.

However, monies given for regional and local road improvements rose from €376m to €399m.

The housing sector also saw a big drop, with funds from central government for creating social dwellings down from €598m in 2012 to €529m in 2013. Monies given for affordable housing dipped from €58m in 2012 to €43m last year.

Government money provided to councils for higher education grants also dropped from €146m to €70m in same period.

The report says: “Transfers of funding from central government sources to local authorities in 2013 totalled around €2.4bn.

“This compares with transfers totalling €5.8bn in 2008. In some cases, the fall in transfers has occurred as a result of the removal of responsibilities from local authorities.”