Vol. 433 No. 1
168 Mr. Power asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the dangerous condition of Caragh Bridge spanning the Liffey in County Kildare; the measures required to make it safe; and if he will provide funds for a new bridge which will allow two-way traffic and still allow for the retention of this, the oldest surviving bridge over the Liffey.
The bridge referred to is on a non-national road. The maintenance and improvement of such roads is a matter for the local authority concerned, in this case Kildare County Council, and the works fall to be financed from the authority's own resources supplemented by the discretionary road grants paid annually by my Department. The 1993 discretionary grant to Kildare County Council is £1,863,000, which includes a supplementary grant to £600,000 for improvement works. The 1993 road grants have been allocated in full and there are no further funds available to me from which I would make a further grant. Kildare County Council has been informed of this.
