I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 62 together.
Since 1997 non-national road grant allocations to Cork County Council have increased by 70% from £16.3 million, 20.7 million, in 1997 to £27.9 million, 35.4 million, in 2001. The 2001 allocation is an increase of 20% on the 2000 payment figure of £23.27 million, 29.546 million.
In determining non-national road grant allocations, the primary objective is to ensure that all local authorities, including Cork County Council, are appropriately resourced in relation to their ongoing and special needs. This process is guided by a range of criteria, including road pavement conditions, traffic volumes, length of road network and suitability in relation to criteria for EU co-financing. This multiplicity of criteria, together with the variable impact of project specific schemes on expenditure from year to year, necessarily entails divergence between local authorities in grants per kilometre under the non-national roads programme. In addition, allocations made under the grant category – non-national roads to support housing and other development, particularly to counties in the greater Dublin area, where there is a significant demand for housing, further complicate comparisons on the basis of the length of the non-national road network in each county.
