asked the Minister for Finance whether he is aware that in the townland of Cloughvoola, Waterville, County Kerry, there are industrious farmers for whom no road of any kind has ever been provided, even though they live a distance of from 1½ to 2 miles from the nearest public roads, one to the north and one to the south, and that some months ago a departmental engineer made a survey of the area; and if so, whether he will state (1) the nature of the engineer's report and in what direction he recommends the road to be made and the reason for the choice; (2) the estimated cost of carrying out the scheme; (3) the amount the State will grant and the amount of local contribution required, and (4) when this very urgent work will be put in hands.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Kerry Road Scheme.
I should point out to the Deputy that I have no duty or responsibility in the matter of providing roads, except to the extent to which a proposed work may form a suitable subject for an unemployment relief scheme, or in cases where the landholders concerned are prepared to pay a contribution for an approved work under the rural improvements scheme. Subject to that, the following is the information asked for by the Deputy, so far as I am in a position to give it. An inspector of the Special Employment Schemes Office visited the site of the road in question in June last, but I am not prepared to give full details of his report, as reports of this kind have always been regarded as confidential. The first proposal made in connection with the scheme was that a tourist road should be constructed, which, incidentally, would serve several landholders' houses, but as the estimated cost would be of the order of £50,000, it was clearly outside the scope of the minor schemes carried out by my office. A number of other proposals have been made having as their object the making of a new road to reach the houses of landholders in the townlands of Cloughvoola and Inichfarranagloragh Glebe. The minimum estimated cost of a work of this kind is about £1,000, and as the unemployment position in the area would not warrant a full-cost grant of anything like this sum, I am not prepared to carry out the work as an unemployment relief scheme. If, however, the landholders are prepared to contribute one-fourth of the estimated cost, and if they will so inform my office, I shall have the case further considered.