Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 2 Dec 1997

Vol. 483 No. 6

Written Answers. - Roads Funding.

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

298 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government whether his Department has received communications from Kildare County Council seeking funding for the purpose of road and bridge realignment at Bond Bridge, Maynooth, County Kildare; if so, the response given to this request; the reason this particular project does not merit favourable consideration for funding in view of the success of similar applications; if he will review the position in relation to this application in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21111/97]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey)

Kildare County Council applied to my Department in 1996 for special funding of £500,000 for the reconstruction of this bridge. The council was informed that additional funds were not then available from which a special grant could be allocated.

More recently, Kildare County Council submitted four applications for funding under the EU co-financed scheme of non-national road grants in 1998. These amounted to £2.45 million in total and included an application for funding of £250,000 for Bond Bridge. As the overall funding requested by the council considerably exceeded the council's expenditure guideline for this scheme of grants, their proposals were returned for revision and resubmission at an appropriate level of expenditure. The council's revised applications were received today and they do not include an application for Bond Bridge.

Decisions on the selection of projects under the EU co-financed scheme depend on their compliance with EU eligibility criteria, the need to prioritise projects, competing demands from other local authorities and the funds available for the scheme in any particular year.