asked the Minister for Local Government if he will make additional money available to Offaly County Council to carry out road repairs in the county in view of the number of bog roads and of the way they deteriorated last year during the fine weather.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Offaly Roads.
14.
The total of the Road Fund grants already notified to road authorities comprises the net income of the Road Fund for the current year and I have no funds at my disposal from which an additional grant might be made available to Offaly County Council for the purpose referred to by the Deputy.
Presumably, the Minister is aware of a cut-back of almost 50 per cent, or approximately £135,000 on the figure for last year. But is he aware that, because there will be no more money available from the Department, there may be redundancies?
The Deputy is making the same sort of mistake that some of his colleagues made a couple of weeks ago in regard to this matter. The road grants allocations consist of grants for special improvement purposes. Such grants are applied to one local authority road in a given area. Obviously, when the work is completed there is no need to repeat the grant. Therefore, an area may be allocated £500,000 or even £1 million in one year but get nothing the next year under that heading. The grant is solely for the purpose of having this special work carried out. In these circumstances it is correct for the Deputy to say that the overall grant for his county this year is less than the figure for the previous year but the decrease is in respect of grants for special improvement purposes. The grants for normal works have been increased substantially so that there will be no question of lay-offs. The people who are engaged in the special improvement works are usually contractors and workers who are engaged specially for such jobs.
We have been informed by Offaly County Council that the situation is serious.
A question please.
They say that the estimate passed in October last will have to be revised wholly now.
The Deputy is embarking on a speech.
As a county which has a lot of bog road, is Offaly not entitled to special consideration?
Is the Minister aware——
On a point of order, Deputy Connolly has asked a question to which the Minister has not replied but Deputy Enright proceeds to ask another question.
The Minister is capable of answering both questions together.
It is a matter for the Minister's discretion.
Is the Minister aware that Offaly County Council received last year twice the amount by way of road grants than they received for the year 1972-73?
On a point of information, is the Deputy imparting information to the House?
Order.
There is a considerable amount of bog road in Offaly.
The Deputy must proceed by way of question.
Because of the heavy traffic to and from the power station and briquette factory would the Minister consider favourably requesting inspectors of his Department to carry out a survey during the next year or so of bog roads in Offaly with a view to some definite proposals being made and discussions being held with Offaly County Council on this matter in view of the fact that nothing has been done in this regard for the last 18 or 20 years?
The Deputy is embarking on a speech.
He handled his brief badly.
In reply to Deputy Connolly, as I pointed out earlier, there is a reduction in improvement grants for national roads in Offaly solely because no further major improvement schemes are required in respect of those roads. There are only 11.58 miles of national primary road in the county so in those circumstances they have done quite well so far as the grants are concerned. As Deputy Enright pointed out, this grant was increased from £142,050 in 1973-74 to £230,000 last year. The reason why it is only £60,000 this year is because the work is finished. There is no mystery about it. This happens to each county in turn.
I should point out that the national primary road upkeep grant for Offaly is increased by £2,500 while the corresponding grant for national secondary roads in the area is increased by £16,950 and the block grant which can be spent on anything, including bogs, is up by £19,630. The Deputy is usually fair-minded, and if he considers these figures he will agree that Offaly got a fair deal.
It is my wish to be fair-minded.
A brief supplementary, please.
The Minister must appreciate that inflation has increased by more than 100 per cent since 1971-72.
Question No. 15.
Has the Minister received any communication from Offaly County Council regarding a deputation on this matter?
There may have been an application to the Department regarding a deputation but I am not aware of any such application.
Has the Minister met a deputation in relation to this matter?
No. I might point out that even if there were a 1,000 per cent increase in inflation, this would make no difference to the grants I have referred to, because if there are not roads to be improved the county concerned will not get these grants.
The Chair has called the next question.
I would like to say that——
The Deputy is not in order.
——the secondary roads in Offaly are in a deplorable condition.
An extra £19,630 has been allocated to their improvement this year.
(Interruptions.)
Order.