Vol. 367 No. 8
asked the Minister for the Environment the plans he has to finance programmes which county councils in the 13 western counties may forward to him to bring the county roads, in each of these counties up to an acceptable standard; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
19.
asked the Minister for the Environment if he will consider an extra allocation of money to Kerry County Council for repairing and surface dressing of county roads as the council has 2,400 miles of county roads to repair and surface dress and the amount of one million pounds which was allocated this year is completely inadequate.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 19 together.
It has been the practice, as established by successive Governments, that local authorities carry full responsibility for the maintenance of county roads and road grants have not, therefore, been provided for this purpose. I am aware, however, that the condition of county roads is a matter of serious concern in a number of areas and that some county councils are experiencing difficulties in financing necessary works to these roads. I have, therefore, asked my Department to examine the overall position urgently in the light of this situation. I expect to be in a position to make an announcement about the matter in the near future.
In Kerry there are 2,400 miles of county roads. We have £1.5 million this year to repair the pot holes in those roads. This is completely inadequate. The Minister should have steps taken to rectify this very soon before those roads have deteriorated to such an extent that traffic will not be able to pass over them.
I have indicated that I know some local authorities are experiencing some financing difficulties. Block grants to local authorities were increased this year by 21 per cent. That must be of assistance to the authorities. In addition, since the local authorities prepared their estimates, there have been substantial reductions in the estimates of certain costs which the local authorities would have taken into account. I am referring to the reduction in energy and oil costs, the reduction in the price of bitumen and the fact that inflation is now running at a much lower level that estimated by the local authorities when preparing their estimates at the turn of the year. I suggest to local authorities that they should examine their internal estimates to see the extent of those savings on the original estimated figures. That money should be devoted to county road maintenance. I appreciate that there is a high mileage of county roads in Kerry. I was there at the weekend and I thought most of them are being kept in an admirable condition. Perhaps it was just the part of the county I was in. As I said, I know some authoriites are experiencing some difficulties. I am examining the matter. I hope to be able to make an announcement on the matter in the near future.
I would like to have brought the Minister on a conducted tour of some of the county roads I know. He would have changed his mind about the condition of some of them. I am sure he must accept that £1.5 million for the maintenance of 2,400 miles is completely inadequate. Unless something is done in County Kerry in the very near future some of those roads will be impassable.
Does the Minister not agree that this is a matter of extreme urgency? Some counties had a cycle of tarring, spraying and surface dressing once every ten years. Now some counties are unable to repair one mile of their roads this year. I suggest that under the western scheme, in which there is still an amount of money, funding is available for accommodation roads. That funding which is subsidised by the EC should be made available in a once off effort to get the roads back into a reasonable condition.
I am looking into the matter and I hope to make a statement on it in the near future.
In view of the inadequacy of the Minister's reply, unless the announcement in the near future will be very significant, is he aware that in County Galway the cycle between one surface dressing of a road and another is 46 years. Is he aware of the very serious and dangerous nature of roads generally in the west?
I have outlined the position to the House on a number of occasions and I am not unappreciative of the difficulties.
I am not going to go around county by county. I cannot do that. Uimhir 4.
Can I ask one supplementary question?
There are four Deputies who wish to ask questions on this matter.
I will not be parochial.
If I allow Deputy Seán McCarthy to ask a question I will have to allow Deputy Hugh Conaghan, Deputy Jimmy Leonard, Deputy Brendan Daly and anybody else who comes in in the meantime to ask questions.
This is a matter of national importance and the Minister is not interested.
I am not going to allow it. Question No. 4.
