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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 25 Nov 1999

Vol. 511 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Moy (Mayo) Bridge

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. This is a serious problem at Carrowkerbla and Cloonagun about which I recently received representations. A number of families live along this road and the two bridges on it are the cause of the problem. These people cannot get modern machinery up the road. A business located on the road has great difficulty having goods delivered and this is affecting the owner's livelihood. The people who live in the area are also having a difficult time. They wrote to the Office of Public Works and asked that the regional engineer or some other representative of the Office of Public Works visit the area. The engineer did that and subsequently wrote to the residents to inform them that there were 2,000 similar bridges throughout the country and the most dangerous ones would have to be dealt with first.

The people accept that argument. However, they were told it would be a number of years before the Office of Public Works would be able to deal with the bridge. The bridges are structurally sound. The residents are simply seeking that they be extended so they can travel more easily to their schools, churches, businesses and lands. What they are seeking is a necessity, not an extra. They cannot do their daily work because of the inadequacy of these bridges. If there are floods, there are further problems.

I had hoped the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, who has responsibility in this area, would be present for this debate so I could urge him to speed up the process for these people. We hear about the Celtic tiger and how much money is available to the Government. This is what upsets people. The Government and its public relations people are telling everybody how well off they are and that there is no shortage of money. However, money appears to be an obstacle in this case.

It would not cost the Office of Public Works a fortune to do this job. The Minister of State should instruct the Office of Public Works to give these six families an opportunity to conduct their daily business in a reasonable manner and be able to get in and out of their properties. The business there should be able to bring modern machinery up the road. I ask the Minister of State to instruct the Office of Public Works to extend these two bridges. It will not be costly. These families have had enough. They have made every effort to resolve the problem over the years and they are now confronted with officialdom at its worst. This work is a necessity as the bridges are causing a major problem.

I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Cullen, to discuss this matter with the officials with a view to moving the project up the list. It is not good enough to be told it will be a number of years. It should be put into the programme for next year or, certainly, the year after. It would be wrong to put it on the long finger. It is wrong that people in rural areas do not have the same standard of living as people in other areas and this case is a typical example. I can no longer tell these people that there is no money in the kitty. The money is available; what is needed is the political will of the Minister of State to deliver on this. I ask the Minister of State to discuss this with his officials in the Office of Public Works and to make these bridges a priority.

The Minister of State, Deputy Cullen, is abroad at an EU Finance Council meeting and is unable to be here this evening. The bridge to which the Deputy refers is part of the Moy catchment drainage scheme which was carried out by the Office of Public Works under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945. The scheme commenced in 1960 and was completed in 1971. It involved the drainage of 1,241 kilometres of channels.

Some 2,200 accommodation bridges were modified or replaced as part of the scheme design. These bridges provide the riparian farmers owning land on both sides of a scheme channel with farm vehicular and-or foot access from one side to the other. The type of bridge provided depended on the width, depth and required flow capacity of the river channel, and ranged from concrete piped culverts to relatively large structures formed of concrete or masonry abutments spanned by structural steel beams or lattice girders together with concrete or timber decking.

The Office of Public Works has a statutory obligation to maintain the scheme in proper repair and effective condition. This includes the examination of bridges as part of the maintenance works and repairs and replacements are carried out as necessary. The bridge in question was recently examined and found to be structurally sound. Consequently, there are no plans to replace it. However, the Office of Public Works has no objections to landowners enlarging the bridges themselves, provided they comply with Office of Public Works requirements.

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