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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 8 Mar 1995

Vol. 450 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Non-National Roads Funding.

I wish to share my time with Deputy Brendan Smith.

I am sure that is satisfactory.

I thank you, Sir, for the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. It is an understatement to say we are disappointed with the allocation for non-national roads. We expected an effective response from the Department to the opening of roads in the Border region as part of the peace process, some of which have been closed for 20 years. In 1984 the total allocation from the Department of the Environment was £3,687,000 made up of discretionary EU co-funding, money under the local improvement scheme and money for specified cross-Border roads. This year it was reduced by £64,150. Included in the allocation is £1,100,000 of INTERREG funding. We were told by EU officials in Brussels that that money would be additional to the funding given to the area, but when one takes into account that this is for specified cross-Border roads approved by the Department, the allocation is substantially reduced. In addition the EU co-financed £450,000 which is specified for two roads in the county. The funding will be in excess of £1.5 million. We have only 50 per cent of our funding for county and regional roads. Some counties, far removed from the Border, received substantial funding under INTERREG, something we asked the Department not to proceed with as in other years.

As a member of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, I was vicechairman of a subcommittee which carried out a study of cross-Border transport, trade and, more recently INTERREG. We put the case for additional funding for Border roads to Commissioner Bruce Millan who assured us that any money granted would be additional. In this case it is not.

I thank my colleague, Deputy Leonard, for the opportunity of contributing and fully endorse his remarks. The very serious infrastructural deficiencies in the Border counties are well documented. I do not need to tell the House again about the totally inadequate roads network in towns like Cavan and Monaghan. In the past few months, particularly since the cessation of violence in Northern Ireland, a new urgency has been attached to the need to remedy the serious infrastructural deficiencies in the Border region.

Government Ministers and the European Union have committed themselves to provide additional funding, apart from national Exchequer funding. Over this period we have been consistently told that funding from the INTERREG II programme and the Delors package would be additional to normal funding. In response to questioning by Deputies Leonard, O'Hanlon and myself the Minister for Finance stated on 28 February: "It is my intention to ensure that the moneys will be additional". To our extreme disappointment we learned this morning that at the first opportunity to honour its commitment the Government substantially reduced the allocation for regional and county roads to Cavan County Council and to Monaghan and used the new funding from INTERREG II in part substitution for the inexcusable cutback in the national Exchequer contribution.

The 1994 allocation to Cavan County Council was £4.641 million. The 1995 allocation is £4.085 million, a decrease of almost £600,000. Those figures cloak the reality because, within the latter figure is £1.3 million of INTERREG funding. In effect, the people of Cavan are suffering a decrease of almost £1.9 million for regional and county roads in the allocation made by the national Exchequer this year.

I appeal to the Minister to urgently review these allocations and give effect to the many promises made that there would be a peace dividend for the people of the Border areas, that the serious infrastructural deficiencies would be remedied and that the necessary inward investment would be made possible by upgrading the roads network and improving other infrastructures. The Minister in his recent decision neglected the Border areas and I appeal to the Minister of State to convey to the Minister our extreme disappointment and urgent request for further funding.

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue and welcome this opportunity to address the House on this important source of funding for non-national roads and to clarify the basis for the allocations the Minister has just announced for non-national roads.

I would like to place the issue of the 1995 road grant allocations in proper context. The overall allocation of almost £103 million is indicative of the Government's major commitment to non-national roads. While the provision is marginally less than the 1994 provision of £107 million, the resources provided in that year were significantly boosted by a once-off allocation from the receipts of the tax amnesty. When this exceptional allocation of £15 million is excluded, the 1995 grants are up on the underlying 1994 provision by 12 per cent and by an even higher amount on the allocation for any previous year.

The resources available to the Minister have been allocated to local authorities under two categories of grants, first, as discretionary or block grants — the overall provision for these grants is £60.568 million — and, secondly, as specific grants for improvement works which are important for employment and economic activity. The total provision for the latter is £42.33 million in 1995 made up of £34.33 million under the EU co-financed scheme of specific grants introduced last year and £8 million under the INTERREG II Community initiative for Border and certain maritime areas.

The major portion of the provision available in 1995 for allocation to county councils as discretionary grants — almost £46 million out of nearly £51 million — has been allocated on a pro rata mileage basis with the exception of the three Dublin county councils which received somewhat higher allocations because of traffic volumes, wear and tear, management needs etc., in their areas. This approach is consistent with the method used to determine road grant allocations in previous years.

The balance of the discretionary grants provision for county councils, i.e. £5 million in 1995, was reserved for the purpose of making supplementary allocations to a number of councils in counties in which the condition of roads is particularly poor. The Minister determined the amount of the grant allocation to the councils concerned having regard to the situation in each county. This practice is also consistent with the approach adopted by his predecessors.

Urban authorities received the remaining £8 million available as discretionary grants with individual allocations determined on the basis of population size.

The framework programme pertaining to the Border areas element of INTERREG II was approved recently by the European Commission and funding of £6 million is being provided this year to eligible county councils. Details of the programme will be sent shortly to the councils concerned and they will be invited to submit road improvement projects meeting the criteria of the grants scheme. The Minister has sought to facilitate the councils concerned in drawing up their proposals for funding under INTERREG II by including indicative allocations under this heading in the 1995 non-national road grants he has notified to them.

Allocations totalling £5.7 million have been made to the six front line Border counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo and the remaining £300,000 has been shared equally between Longford, Meath and Roscommon county councils which qualify for limited funding under the programme. Payment of these indicative grants is conditional on each council putting forward sufficient qualifying projects so as to be in a position to expend its allocation in the current year.

In the circumstances there are no grounds for allegations that councils concerned have not received their due entitlements under this Community initiative.

I expect that some councils will have hoped to receive higher allocations than they did, particularly in view of the new source of funding afforded by the INTERREG programme. These expectations would have been unrealistic in the case of many of the councils concerned because of factors such as the fact that funding available for non-national roads in 1994 was boosted by the once-off injection of £15 million from tax amnesty receipts which is not available for the current year and the inclusion of special allocations totalling £500,000 in the 1994 grants in connection with road works associated with the Shannon-Erne Waterway which was opened to cruisers last year. The need for similar funding does not arise in 1995.

Councils qualifying for INTERREG assistance received allocations totalling £1.1 million in 1994 for pilot schemes intended to promote community involvement, in money or kind, on road works in their areas. These grants were identified as being over and above the normal grants for the councils concerned. The pilot scheme concept, which was initiated in 1992, now has a proven track record and in the circumstances the practice of giving special grants for pilot works to a small number of councils has been discontinued.

Councils in Border areas were told in 1994 that their EU co-financed specific grant allocations took special account of the absence of INTERREG funding in that year and, in the circumstances, allocations under that grant scheme were higher than would obtain once the INTERREG programme was approved.

In the counties work on the reopening of cross-Border roads was completed or substantially completed in 1994 with the result that grant allocations for this purpose are not required or can be reduced this year.

I am confident that the House will agree that the benefits of INTERREG funding have been channelled to the areas entitled to such support.

May I draw the attention of the Minister of State——

The Minister of State's reply ends the debate.

Under the INTERREG programme Dun Laoghaire received £2 million.

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