asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he will state when it is proposed to proceed with the construction of a bridge over the River Suck at Correen Ford, Ballinasloe.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - River Suck Bridge.
The construction of bridges is not undertaken by my Department. Such a work is the duty of the appropriate road authority in so far as it falls within its statutory powers. In December last resolutions were adopted by the Roscommon and Galway County Councils in identical terms approving of the payment of a sum not exceeding £200 towards the cost of erecting a new bridge over the River Suck at Correen Ford, assuming apparently that the balance of the cost would be allotted from Government funds. It is estimated that a good high-level bridge would cost at least £10,000. The bridge, if built, would not connect up the public road systems of Galway and Roscommon, and could not be erected by either county council unless about two miles of reconstructed new road of general public utility were also to be made. The proposed bridge is intended to facilitate directly 19 farmers on the Roscommon side of the River Suck who own about 100 acres of meadow on the Galway side, and also some other farmers resident on the Galway side who cut turf in County Roscommon. As its importance would be of purely local character, its construction would not be warranted on the grounds of public utility.