I am delighted the Minister is present to answer this question. It concerns him as well as other Oireachtas Members in the county. The road network in Kerry, in common with most counties, is extensive by any standards of measurement and provides a more dense road network than any other European country. For example, the road length per 1,000 of population in Germany is 8 km, in England it is 6 km and in France it is 15 km. In Ireland it is 26 km and in Kerry it is 26.8 km.
The network of non-national roads is an infrastructural feature crucial to the economic and social development of the county, and it is considered imperative that it is maintained to a good standard to provide a safe and efficient service to residents and visitors alike. Over two million tourists come to Kerry every year and many of our main tourist attractions are on national roads.
There are 3,807 kilometres of local roads in Kerry, and a recent study by the Department of the Environment and Local Government indicated that it would cost £13.3 million to bring the local primary roads up to an appropriate standard. To bring the local secondary roads up to standard would cost £11.7 million and in respect of the local tertiary roads the cost would be £13.3 million. Overall, to bring our local road network up to standard would cost just over £38 million.
We have 448 kilometres of regional roads in Kerry. The same study by the Department of the Environment and Local Government considered that £7 million would be required to bring those roads up to an appropriate standard. The total length of non-national roads in Kerry is 4,255 kilometres and, according to the Department of the Environment and Local Government figure, it would take £45 million to bring them up to standard.
Kerry County Council has a five year programme. I appeal to the Minister to provide the necessary front-loaded funding next Monday, when he is due to make an announcement, to accelerate that programme which hopefully will cover two years in the first year. It is generally accepted that 1979 was the last year in which a satisfactory maintenance programme was provided for non-national roads in Kerry. The amount provided then was £1.63 million, £6.5 million in today's terms. This year, Kerry County Council has a budget of £1.87 million to spend on road maintenance. Compared to 1979, when we spent the equivalent of £6.5 million, this year we will spend £1.87 and as a result much of the good work done over the past five years is being destroyed because of lack of maintenance. Roads have to be maintained as well as strengthened, but we do not have the resources to do that.
I do not have to remind the Minister that since 1 December, over 14 inches of rain has fallen in Kerry. Statistics for the last century show that Kerry had the highest amounts of rainfall in the country. As a result of those high levels of rainfall, the natural terrain and underlying condition of our roads, we face a specific problem in the county. We also had very heavy frost in recent weeks and, coupled with the heavy rainfall, our roads are now in a deplorable condition. The Minister of State will be aware of that because no doubt he travels on them every day. The county engineer has estimated that damage amounting to over £300,000 has been caused to our roads since December alone and he will spend £200,000 in the next few weeks on fire brigade action just to repair the potholes. In many cases, repairing potholes is a waste of money.
In 1979, 81% of non-national road network funding was provided by the council from its own resources. However, the Department of the Environment and Local Government now provides over 85% of the funding. Since domestic rates were abolished, Kerry County Council is almost totally dependent on the Department to provide funding for both maintenance and strengthening of our county roads. The dependence on the Department of the Environment and Local Government for funding for the non-national road network has resulted in an over-emphasis on strengthening the more important routes, as laid out in the five year plan, and a considerable reduction in the discretion of the county council in spending this allocation.
Since 1996, a major strengthening programme has been carried out and improvements have been made on our road network but many of those improvements have been destroyed by the weather conditions. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle will remember when there was a specific problem in Cavan. We have the same problem in Kerry, and Kerry could be termed the pothole county of Ireland.
I ask that Kerry will get preferential treatment next Monday when the Minister announces the allocation for non-national roads. Due to the unique conditions Kerry experiences, money should be given to us to solve the problem. I do not want to exaggerate too much but we are experiencing major difficulty in Kerry and it is being expressed in various ways. People are getting very frustrated. They are taking to the roads to protest, as highlighted recently on our television screens. I appeal to the Minister of State to try to do something about this problem and to the Minister from County Kerry to use his influence to ensure we get an allocation that can solve our problems next Monday.
