Vol. 489 No. 6
536 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will sanction funding for the provision of ring roads and inner relief roads in Westport, County Mayo; and the plans, if any, he has to solve the traffic congestion problems of the town. [9495/98]
537 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if an application for funding for the provision of ring roads and inner relief roads in Westport, County Mayo, has been submitted to his Department; and, if so, when he hopes to make a decision in this regard. [9496/98]
I propose to take Question Nos. 536 and 537 together.
No application for funding has been received in my Department for the provision of ring roads and inner relief roads in Westport. The maintenance and improvement of non-national roads and the management of traffic in their area is a matter for the relevant road authorities, to be funded from their own resources, supplemented by State grants. My Department notified 1998 non-national road grant allocations of £9,770,000 and £150,000 to Mayo County Council and Westport UDC, respectively, on 9 February, 1998. The initial selection and prioritisation of road projects to be grant aided is a matter for the road authorities themselves. There are no further funds currently at the disposal of my Department from which an additional grant could be made.
