Vol. 434 No. 9
72 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for the Environment if he has received a submission for funding from Roscommon County Council to improve a section of the Athlone/Tuam road from the Mill to Bealnamullia School; if so, if his Department has reported to him that this is a highly trafficked but extremely deficient and dangerous stretch of regional road; and if the necessary funding to carry out the improvement will be provided in the 1994 road works budget.
The improvement and maintenance of regional roads is a matter for the relevant local authority and the funding of such works normally falls to be met from their own resources, supplemented by discretionary grants from my Department. The discretionary grant to Roscommon County Council for 1993 is £2.229 million.
In November 1992 Roscommon County Council submitted to my Department a proposal for the realignment of about 1.1 km of roadway at the location referred to at an estimated cost of about £0.5 million. The council sought a special grant for the works involved but it was not possible, within the limitations of the funds available to me in the current year, to accede to this request. However, the matter can be considered again in the context of the 1994 road grant allocations.
