Vol. 486 No. 1
671 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the financial resources, if any, which are being provided in the current fiscal year by his Department to local authorities to assist in the provision and maintenance of cycle facilities. [1963/98]
The Operational Programme for Transport 1994-99 includes a provision of £34 million for management measures in the DTI area, including traffic management facilities for cyclists, pedestrians and mobility impaired people, traffic calming, truck management etc. Grants are paid to local authorities in the DTI area by the Dublin Transportation Office for specific capital projects. An amount of almost £9 million is available to the DTO in 1998 for management measures. While this amount has not yet been allocated it is anticipated that substantial grants will be made in support of the Dublin cycle network recently launched by DTO in co-operation with the Dublin local authorities.
The provision of cycle facilities more generally can be funded from the discretionary improvement grant for non-national roads made available to local authorities by my Department. I intend to announce the 1998 non-national road grants, including discretionary improvement grants, to individual local authorities in the very near future.
