asked the Minister for the Environment if he will direct officials of his Department in conjunction with council engineers, to carry out a survey of all roads in County Donegal which are in urgent need of repairs; and if he will then, having received a report, consider allocating a special grant for the repair of the roads in most urgent need of repair.
Written Answers. - Donegal Roads.
44.
I am aware of the general condition of roads in County Donegal on the basis of inspections carried out by my Department's inspector for the area and reports submitted by Donegal County Council. I do not consider it necessary to have a special survey carried out along the lines proposed by the Deputy.
The State grants for roads allocated to Donegal County Council for 1986 totalled £6.318 million. This represents an increase of 9 per cent relative to the original allocation notified to the local authority in 1985.
The position regarding State grants for maintenance works is, as follows:
(1) Full cost grants are provided by the Department for approved programmes of surface dressing and ordinary maintenance on national roads. I am satisfied that the grants allocated to the local authority for these purposes in the current year are sufficient to provide a good standard of maintenance on these roads. The grant allocation notified to the local authority in 1986 for maintenance works on national roads is £978,000, which is 7 per cent higher than the corresponding payments made to the authority in 1985.
(2) Expenditure on maintenance works on regional roads falls to be financed by the local authority from their own resources, which may be supplemented by the block grant for roads paid annually by the Department. The manner in which the block grant is spent, including the extent to which it is to be applied to maintenance works on regional roads, is largely within the discretion of each local authority. The block grant allocated to the local authority in 1986 is £1.04 million, which is 10 per cent higher than the corresponding grant in 1985.
(3) In accordance with the practice established by successive Governments, it is not proposed to make State grants available for county road maintenance. Expenditure under this heading will continue to be financed by local authorities from their own resources.
It is not possible at this stage to allocate any additional road grants to any local authority because the funds available in 1986 have been fully allocated. The Department are monitoring progress on grant-aided works during 1986. If it should appear later this year that the grant allocated to a local authority will not be required in full in 1986, the authority will be consulted and any possible savings will be reallocated to other authorities which require the additional funds and can spend the money involved this year.