Vol. 453 No. 8
78 Mr. Nolan asked the Minister for the Environment if he will extend the pilot schemes for the repair of county roads, the joint venture community scheme for the strengthening of category two and three local roads, to all counties. [88207/95]
99 Mr. Reynolds asked the Minister for the Environment if he will restore the pilot scheme for the repair and reconstruction of county roads in Longford in order to avoid disruption of rural life, especially in view of the deterioration in the state of the roads as a result of the prolonged bad weather and flooding and as an effective cut of about 25 per cent in money allocation for county roads is not sustainable in the circumstances. [9219/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 99 together.
Following the success of the pilot schemes which operated in certain counties in the period 1992-1994, all local authorities have been asked to seek to involve local communities in contributing, whether in money or in kind, towards the maintenance and improvement of non-national roads in their areas. Local authorities may reserve a portion of their 1995 discretionary grant allocations for projects attracting community support and in this way enhance the return from public investment in these roads. The practice of providing specific grants to certain county councils for pilot schemes to promote and evaluate the scope for community involvement has been discontinued now that the initial experimental phase has been successfully concluded.
In relation to the general question of grants for non-national roads in 1995, I refer to the reply to Question No. 19 on 27 April 1995.
