asked the Minister for Local Government whether in view of the fact that county road maintenance is a serious burden on rates in Mayo and other western counties he proposes to allow local authorities to divert some fixed portion of the county road improvement grant for this purpose.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Road Maintenance.
26.
The object of the county road improvement grant is the provision of dust-free surfaces on county roads. Despite generous grant allocations received for this purpose for a number of years past, there is still a large mileage of unimproved county roads in County Mayo. Similar considerations apply in other western counties. Having regard to the heavy and growing demands on the Road Fund to meet the need for the improvement of the arterial routes and main roads generally, and the problems of traffic in the cities and towns, as well as the improvement of county roads, it would not be possible to make any special provision from that source for county road maintenance, nor to divert county road improvement moneys to that purpose.