Vol. 501 No. 6
282 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department or any of the agencies under his control have provided finance to permit safety measures to be implemented at Dalystown national school, Mullingar, County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6808/99]
The school referred to by the Deputy is located along the N52 national road. Funding is made available through my Department's Vote by way of block grants to the National Roads Authority, NRA, for the improvement and maintenance of national roads, including the provision of safety facilities at schools located along the national road network. The making of allocations in respect of particular projects is a matter for the NRA.
283 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department or any of the agencies under his control have provided finance under the school safety programme to permit necessary safety measures to be implemented at Taghmon national school, Mullingar, County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6809/99]
The maintenance and improvement of non-national roads in its area, including the execution of safety related works, such as the provision of appropriate road signs or road markings is a matter for Westmeath County Council, to be funded from its own resources, supplemented by grants made available by my Department. Westmeath County Council has recently been allocated a total of £4,359,000 in non-national road grants in 1999, an increase of 8 per cent on the original 1998 allocation. This figure includes discretionary grants of £511,000 which may be used to provide and maintain road markings and road or traffic signs. The selection of individual projects to be assisted from discretionary grants is a matter for the local authority and neither I nor my Department has any function in the matter.
