asked the Minister for the Environment if he is aware of the almost total collapse of road maintenance services in west Donegal because adequate moneys are not being made available; and if he will make an emergency allocation in order to maintain employment levels and make roads passable.
Written Answers. - Donegal Road Maintenance.
349.
I am aware of the general needs of the public road network in west Donegal. In order to assist the road authority, I allocated road grants totalling £5.7 million to the council in the current year in respect of the county as a whole. Of this sum, £865,000 was allocated specifically for national road maintenance. The maintenance of regional roads falls to be financed from the council's own resources supplemented by the block grant which this year amounted to £1.26 million and the council has wide discretion in the expenditure of this grant. County road maintenance falls to be financed from the council's own resources. Donegal County Council estimate that a total of £8.46 million will be spent on all road works in the county in the current year. Separate figures relating to expenditure on road works in west Donegal in 1983 are not available in my Department.
There are no funds at my disposal at present from which additional grants could be allocated.