asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he has considered the recent representations made to him by the Ballybunion Improvements Committee concerning the very bad state of repair of the Listowel-Ballybunion Road, and whether any correspondence has taken place between his Department and the Kerry County Council on the subject; further, if he will state why a grant of £3,600 which it was proposed to spend on this road in 1940-41 was withdrawn, and if he will now state whether, in view of the importance of Ballybunion as a tourist centre, he will during the present financial year make a grant available out of the Road Fund for the repair of this road before further deterioration makes it utterly impassable for any kind of vehicular traffic.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Listowel-Ballybunion Road.
Representations from the Ballybunion Town Improvements Committee regarding the repair of the Listowel-Ballybunion Road have been considered. The present condition of the road is a grave reflection on the road administration of the Kerry County Council.
Representations were made by my Department to the council in April, 1940, when the estimates for the year 1940-41 were under consideration, urging the council to make proper provision for the maintenance of the roads. It was then brought to the notice of the council that failure to maintain roads in the county would seriously react on the county as a tourist centre. In 1940 the council's attention was particularly directed to this road by the county surveyor in the following terms:—
"Due to the repeated reductions in the amounts demanded by me for the maintenance of this road at successive annual road meetings, it has been impossible to give this road the attention it warranted. Consequently, in spite of all efforts to maintain the road with the limited moneys provided by the county council its condition has been steadily deteriorating for some time past, the rate of deterioration becoming accelerated during the past 12 months."
The provision made by the council for the maintenance of roads in the county during the past two years has been entirely inadequate. The provision for main road maintenance was reduced from £41,293 in 1938-39 to £12,189 for the current year, notwithstanding all the representations made to them.
The grant to which the Deputy refers was a road improvement grant out of the Road Fund which was provisionally allocated in 1940. Owing to the effect on the revenue of the Road Fund, occasioned by the petrol shortage, it became necessary to withhold ratification of all grants in respect of which plans had not been approved. The grant for Listowel-Ballybunion Road was one of those affected. In the present position of the Road Fund there is no prospect of making that grant available.
To prevent further rapid deterioration of the road, however, in view of its proximity to a tourist centre, I hope to arrange for a grant for immediate repair works. In the meantime, I must say that I regard the persistent neglect of the county council to make adequate provision for road maintenance as a grave dereliction of their responsibilities, and I am considering what further steps may be called for to deal with that situation.
Bang goes another Fianna Fáil county council!