In order to demonstrate what the position is generally, I may have referred to the figures in regard to Donegal. It is not that I want to make any special reference to that county, beyond briefly indicating from the only facts that are available to me what is taking place. The actual position at the moment is that the cost of maintenance of county roads is entirely borne by the ratepayers. We get no grant whatever from the Road Fund for the maintenance of these roads whereas the maintenance of main roads is subsidised from the Road Fund to the extent of 40 per cent. Then grants for the repairs of main roads are 100 per cent. free from the Road Fund. These are facts which are not generally known.
The other point in which I am interested and which I am sure the Minister will explain in due course is that every time in the past when a grant was given to a local authority from the Central Fund or the Road Fund, a directive was given as to where that grant was to be spent and how it was to be spent. In actual fact there is a standard to which main roads must conform in order that that money can be expended. In each instance the type of work that is to be done is pointed out. Take, for instance, a grant for a main road. An indication is given as to the stretch of road on which that grant is to be expended. Invariably it is laid down that a particular bend must be widened so that the road will conform to the standard of 20 feet laid down for main roads. I do not agree that that should be so and I should like to have some information from the Minister on this point. Will the Minister next year reverse that position? Will he see that the maintenance of main roads will be left to be carried out from money provided directly from the rates and that the maintenance of county roads will be given a substantial grant from the Road Fund such as is given only for main roads at present? That will enable those of us who are members of local authorities to concentrate much more money on county roads than is being applied to them at present.
I should like also the Minister to amend the regulations with regard to the standards that are laid down by his Department in connection with both county and main roads. That would give us an opportunity to surface a much greater mileage of these roads and put them in a passable condition instead of having, as we are bound to do at the moment by the Department of Local Government, to make county roads to a width of 16 feet. Money is often expended on widening a road with the result that we are not in a position to pay sufficient attention to surfacing. While a considerable amount of money is expended on widening, we still have a road which is not up to standard for traffic. If we are allowed to carry out surfacing jobs on a road which has already a good heart and is a solid road, without having to spend such a lot of money on widening or doing other jobs which prevent us from carrying out sufficient surfacing, I suggest that it would give greater satisfaction to the public. These are some of the things that would really contribute towards making a greater mileage of county roads than we are able to make at the present time. Reading the Minister's statement, or alleged statement, as reported, one would think that the bias at the moment is in favour of the main roads. That is not in fact the case. Again I must refer to the only figures that I have before me, those relating to County Donegal. They show that in County Donegal the amount of the 100 per cent. free grant from the Road Fund for main roads last year was in the vicinity of £86,000, whereas the free grant from the Road Fund in respect of county roads was £137,000. These figures demonstrate the very marked discrepancy between the amount provided for main roads and the amount provided for county roads.
The Road Fund is derived solely from the motor tax which those who are unfortunate to have motor cars must pay. Some time ago, when we were on the other side of the House, we were reluctantly compelled to introduce legislation to increase the amount of road tax payable by vehicle owners. The Minister and his colleagues who were then on this side of the House opposed that legislation, legislation which has resulted in there being a very substantial Road Fund now but which is by no means sufficient to keep the roads up to the standard desired.
If the Minister would tell us now whether he still believes that the present condition of the roads is due to the fact that the elected representatives are not of a suitable type and are not carrying out proper economies or whether it is due to the fact that sufficient money was not diverted from the main roads to the county roads, he would allay the feelings of a great many people who are confused as to what the position is likely to be next year. I can assure the Minister that any change he may make in connection with the allocation of money for roads which will give extra grants for county roads will have the full support of all elected members of local authorities. I can safely say that the same can be said of those who may not be members of local authorities at the moment but who will be members after June next. If the Minister would indicate, without giving actual figures, the amount of money that will be available or the changes that will be made in the regulations or otherwise with regard to the differential between main roads and county roads next year it would give members of local authorities a chance to inform the public who are anxious for improvements in the roads in their own townlands of what they may expect next year. It is not expected that every road for which money for repair work is being sought at the moment will be repaired, or anything like it.
I am sure the Minister did not intend, when he made the statement that he is alleged to have made, to imply that the present system by which roads were being constructed by local authorities was a result of the elected representatives not properly attending to their business but that was the innuendo and I would like the Minister to explain it fully now. I have tried to point out that the Department of Local Government in every instance gives a direction as to how the money is to be expended when they give us a 100 per cent. grant out of the Road Fund and that the elected representatives have been in no way responsible for directing the money to any particular place.
I do not know what the Minister intends to do with regard to future legislation. I do not want to anticipate him but perhaps he is anticipating that legislation when he made certain references to roads. He may intend to give powers to the local representatives to say to the engineer: "Put £1,000 on that road and £3,000 on that road, and so on." If that is to be the case in future, we will be in a position to outline our proposals and decide as to the roads which will be repaired next year. If that is not to be the case, the Minister might indicate now what drastic change he proposes to make in regard to the all-important question of county roads. If he does that, we will be able to give the electorate a good account of our stewardship and point out to the people who think that we may have mishandled the public purse that we have been doing exactly what any council could do in the circumstances, irrespective of whether they were ratepayers or not. I say in defence of my colleagues on local bodies that 99 per cent. of them are large taxpayers.
