Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Jun 1998

Vol. 491 No. 6

Written Answers. - Roads Funding.

Olivia Mitchell

Question:

196 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department will fund the implementation of the proposed green route which has been partially funded from development levies by the two local authorities through whose functional area it runs, but which now urgently require it to be completed to accommodate the traffic diverted on to it due to severance, occasioned by the construction of the south cross route; his views on the fact that, as it is not regarded as a national route, it does not come within the remit of the National Roads Authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12650/98]

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

I refer to the reply to Question No. 163 of 29 January 1998.

The green route, which has been partly constructed, originates from a long-standing local authority proposal to cater for internal suburban traffic in the areas concerned. As such it has not been designated, nor is it proposed for designation, as a national road. Responsibility for the financing of the green route, accordingly, rests with the local authorities concerned on the basis of their own resources, including discretionary grants from my Department and the proceeds of relevant development levies.

The National Roads Authority is in principle limited to the development, including the financing, of the national road network. The authority may occasionally, however, cater for limited works on non-national roads necessitated by specific national road improvements. In this connection, I understand that Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is in consultation with the authority with a view to determining the extent, if any, to which a limited section of the green route in the vicinity of the proposed Ballinteer interchange might be financed from national road grants.