Vol. 533 No. 6
305 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has received a submission from the sub-committee of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport dealing with the problems encountered in the Shannon catchment area; when money will be forthcoming in order to deal with the various problems highlighted therein; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9569/01]
The recommendations of the interim report on flooding on the River Shannon by the Joint Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport were available to my Department in the context of determining non-national road grants allocations for 2001.
The 2001 allocations to the nine road authorities identified in the interim report as having road improvement requirements relating to flooding on the Shannon amounted to some £76 million, an increase of more than 9% on the corresponding allocations for 2000. I consider that this significant resourcing of non-national roads programmes provides opportunity, at the discretion of the road authorities concerned, for prioritising action in relation to the problems identified in the interim report, if necessary on a phased basis.
My Department will also be prepared to consider sympathetically any request from local authorities in the Shannon catchment area to adjust their multi-annual restoration programmes so as to prioritise works to repair flood damage to particular roads or to raise roads to prevent future flooding.
