Vol. 431 No. 7
59 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment if he has satisfied himself that there is adequate preparatory design work on roads, water supplies, sewage schemes and housing being carried out by Donegal County Council, especially in view of the need to maximise the value of Government and EC grants.
Primary responsibility for ensuring that adequate preparatory design work is being carried out by local authorities rests with the individual authorities. I am satisfied, however, that the general arrangements in County Donegal for carrying out design work on the schemes in question are sufficient to bring the schemes to implementation stage as quickly as necessary. In the case of national roads, I have recently sanctioned the appointment of a number of temporary staff to augment Donegal County Council's design capacity. As regards housing, in common with other local authorities, the Council have been advised by my Department of the need for the preparation of a proper brief for any housing scheme before design work commences to avoid abortive works and delays, and that where the necessary architectural and other technical expertise is not available in-house, they should arrange to otherwise obtain it (e.g., from other local authorities, the National Building Agency or by the appointment of consultants).
