asked the Minister for the Environment the application rate per mile of the block grant by his Department to Counties Galway, Mayo, Donegal and Clare for the last three years; and the reason the allocation is so low for County Galway.
Written Answers. - Road Grants.
503.
Since 1983, the county councils of the counties in question received the following allocations, by way of block grant, per mile of main and county roads:
|
1983 |
1984 |
1985 |
|
|
£ |
£ |
£ |
|
|
Clare |
240.43 |
240.43 |
247.73 |
|
Donegal |
242.77 |
242.77 |
249.94 |
|
Galway |
162.05 |
162.05 |
182.19 |
|
Mayo |
200.61 |
200.61 |
206.74 |
These rates have been calculated on the basis of block grant excluding funds provided for the improvement of county roads under the EC western package which, prior to this year, were notified as part of the block grant. Furthermore, the figures are not strictly comparable because of the variations, in the proportions of main roads to the combined main-county road network in each county.
In the period 1973 to 1975 the block grant system replaced four separate grants. Initially the level of block grant, to each county, was related to the total cost of the old grants which in turn had been determined, inter alia, by the open ended discretionary expenditure by councils on the maintenance of main 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. A further step in this process has been taken this year, as will be seen from the above table, and it is envisaged that this process will be continued in future years within the limits of available funds.
In recent years, in addition to the block grant, special grants have been provided for works on regional and county roads. New grant commitments notified to Galway County Council for such works total £1.898 millions since 1983. The works involved would otherwise have to be financed from the council's own resources, (including the rate support grants) supplemented by the block grant.