Vol. 441 No. 5
112 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for the Environment if he will make a special grant available for the restoration of roads which were severely damaged in Inishmore, Aran Islands, County Galway during the recent storm and high tides, particularly the lower road from Kilronan to Kilmurvey Beach; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I have not received a request from Galway County Council for a special grant for roads on Inishmore. In any event, the practice of reserving portion of the total Exchequer funds available for non-national roads for special grants has been discontinued, having regard to the new grant system introduced this year.
The general conditions notified by my Department to local authorities in relation to their discretionary grants require them to provide a contingency sum from their overall allocations so as to finance any road restoration works which may be necessitiated by extreme weather conditions. The grants already notified to county councils include a special provision of £15 million to assist local authorities to undertake work necessitated by adverse weather and flooding experienced since last summer.
