asked the Minister for the Environment if he will arrange with Kerry County Council and Killarney Urban District Council to carry out major improvement scheme works on the heavily trafficked public road at Bally-downey, Killarney where the provision of a new bridge, footpaths and public lighting is urgently required; and if he will make a statement on the matter indicating whether this special grant will be made available for this portion of the Ring of Kerry road.
Written Answers. - County Kerry Road Improvements.
209.
I understand that the road at Ballydowney forms part of the Killarney to Killorglin road.
As the road in question is a non-national road, responsibility for undertaking any works on it, including the provision of the necessary finance, is a matter for the local authority. The local authority may, at its discretion, use the discretionary grants for non-national roads, paid by my Department, to supplement expenditure from their own resources on such works. On 23 November 1989, discretionary grants for regional and county roads, totalling £3.023 million, were notified to Kerry County Council in respect of 1990.
Because of the competing demands for other important road schemes in the country, I do not propose to make special road grant assistance available to the local authority in this case.