I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together.
Information on allocations to each county by way of block grants per kilometre in 1981, 1982 and 1983, is set out in a tabular statement which I am circulating in the Official Report.
I presume that the Deputy has in mind block grant allocations to county councils. Ninety-nine per cent of regional and county roads are located in county health districts.
The block grant allows county councils a wide discretion in the determination of their annual programmes of works on regional and county roads. This grant system was introduced in the period 1973 to 1975 and replaced four separate grants. Initially, it was related to the total cost of those grants which in turn had been determined, inter alia, by the open-ended discretionary expenditure of councils on the maintenance of regional roads. Since 1975 the relative amounts of the block grants to individual counties have been adjusted gradually in an effort to relate them more closely to the maintenance and improvement needs of the regional road network.
The overall amount available for block grants in any one year is determined by the total Exchequer provision for road works. The overall road grant allocation to Kildare County Council since 1981, including the allocation for the Naas by-pass, has been reasonable relative to other areas.
The block grant to county councils is a supplement to the provision made from the council's own resources for the improvement, maintenance and management of regional roads, for improvement works on county roads, and for traffic management measures on national roads. The cost of the maintenance of county roads must be met solely from the council's own resources.
In recent years, in addition to the block grant, special grants have been provided for strengthening works on regional roads. New grant commitments notified in 1984 to Kildare County Council for such works total £450,000. The works involved would otherwise have to be financed from the council's own resources, supplemented by the block grant.
The figures given in the tabular statement are not strictly comparable because of the wide variation, as between county council areas, in the proportion of regional roads in the combined regional/county road network.
Following is the statement:
Block Grant Allocations per Kilometre of Regional and County Roads.
|
1981
|
1982
|
1983
|
|
£
|
£
|
£
|
Carlow
|
88.64
|
88.64
|
120.96
|
Cavan
|
208.01
|
215.48
|
223.37
|
Clare
|
184.72
|
191.36
|
202.64
|
Cork
|
93.37
|
94.65
|
107.34
|
Donegal
|
192.21
|
199.13
|
206.34
|
Dublin
|
405.31
|
485.31
|
524.70
|
Galway
|
116.82
|
121.03
|
134.17
|
Kerry
|
130.35
|
135.04
|
160.41
|
Kildare
|
145.62
|
145.62
|
157.62
|
Kilkenny
|
82.15
|
82.15
|
94.51
|
Laois
|
113.71
|
113.71
|
123.27
|
Leitrim
|
202.12
|
209.41
|
217.35
|
Limerick
|
98.73
|
99.72
|
113.55
|
Longford
|
142.95
|
148.08
|
156.63
|
Louth
|
125.45
|
125.45
|
136.28
|
Mayo
|
163.48
|
169.35
|
171.73
|
Meath
|
113.21
|
113.21
|
122.51
|
Monaghan
|
166.38
|
172.34
|
178.91
|
Offaly
|
115.36
|
115.36
|
125.07
|
Roscommon
|
123.43
|
127.85
|
135.45
|
Sligo
|
155.37
|
160.95
|
166.94
|
Tipperary NR
|
87.65
|
87.65
|
100.90
|
Tipperary SR
|
136.58
|
136.58
|
147.66
|
Waterford
|
132.26
|
132.26
|
142.97
|
Westmeath
|
118.57
|
118.57
|
124.62
|
Wexford
|
122.02
|
122.02
|
131.81
|
Wicklow
|
165.17
|
165.17
|
173.64
|