I have nothing more to say.
Private Deputies' Business. - Road Maintenance—Motion.
Debate resumed on the following motion:—
That Dáil Éireann is of opinion that all main and trunk roads should be maintained from State funds, as local authorities find it impossible to maintain them with present State aid; and that, as turf producing counties have increased road traffic, and should have increased road grants for county roads, the Government should formulate a scheme for the provision of special road grants to all county councils who are engaged in turf production—(Deputy O. Flanagan).
I must express my disappointment and the disappointment of the ratepayers who were expecting some measure of relief in connection with those areas in which turf was produced during the emergency. I think the object aimed at in the motion which has been under discussion here is one which merits the sympathetic consideration of the Minister. That motion was in two parts: It asked that all main and trunk roads should be maintained from State funds and that increased road grants should be given in those counties which were engaged on turf production.
Main roads should be a national charge. When I talk about main roads I mean roads like those linking Dublin with Cork, Dublin with Limerick, Dublin with Sligo and Dublin with Wexford; in other words, roads which link city to city or large provincial town to large provincial town. Such roads should not be maintained solely from funds provided by the local authorities. They should be a national charge.
In Laois—Deputy Davin will agree with me in this—a good deal of the traffic coming from the south of Ireland passes through the county from a point just outside Roscrea to within a few miles of Monasterevan. The ratepayers of the county have to contribute heavily to the maintenance and repair of this road. There are ratepayers contributing towards the upkeep and maintenance of that road who never use the road. I think it is unfair and unjust that they should be obliged to foot the bill.
I am sorry the Minister has not given some undertaking that special provision will be made by way of additional grants to the very limited number of counties which engaged extensively in turf production during the emergency. Those counties are Roscommon, Laois-Offaly, Kildare, Mayo and Kerry. In our county during the emergency we were unable to maintain our roads due to the heavy haulage of turf and also due to the fact that we had not the staff to cope with maintenance work since every available man was engaged on the bogs.
The Minister has not held out any hope of relief so far as local authorities are concerned. I am disappointed with the way in which the motion has been received. I had hoped he would adopt a more generous attitude and give some measure of support. The ratepayers are overburdened at the present time, and unless something is done to alleviate their position they will find their situation impossible. Perhaps when the Minister comes to allocate the grants next April he may, having reflected upon this motion, take some steps to comply with the terms of the motion.
Motion by leave withdrawn.