asked the Minister for Local Government the amount of road grants allocated to Donegal and Glenties county electoral areas in County Donegal in respect of the current transitional financial period and the road mileage to be covered in each case.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Donegal Road Grants.
79.
I do not allocate Road Fund Grants on the basis of electoral areas.
Is the Minister aware that the practice — I do not know if it is common throughout the country — is gradually gaining momentum, certainly in County Donegal, to the detriment of the road repairs system, of electoral areas being allocated from the total allocation from the Department a specific amount or portion of that overall allocation and that this is then further broken down into smaller local, parochialised areas? This is a matter the Minister should have a look at because, if it runs to its logical conclusion, it means that each councillor will have so much to spend and we will be back to where we were 40 or 50 years ago, repairing roads in one area to the neglect of others?
That information is not correct. Grants are not related to county electoral areas but to the total need of the public road system in the care of a particular authority. There can never be an even division of the improvement grants for national roads between the various areas of the council.
The Minister misunderstands me. I am suggesting that this practice, through no direction — indeed contrary to the wishes of the Department of Local Government — is one which seems to be gaining momentum in some counties. It is to be avoided where possible. I am merely drawing the Minister's attention to a practice which would be detrimental.
The question is about Donegal. It has been the practice of Donegal County Council to submit their road works programme divided into their eight engineering areas. There is not an engineering area centred on Donegal or Glenties. Therefore it cannot happen there.
Not in those two particular areas.
Would the Deputy ask a question?
The question I am asking the Minister is this: whether he would have his Department take a look at the possible development of a practice which has long gone out of favour, for very good reasons, and ensure that it does not re-emerge and become a pattern — that councillors, each in their own area, will be given the spending of so much money regardless of the merits of the roads in their areas?
I am not aware it is happening. Indeed I would be very surprised if it were happening. As a matter of fact, I cannot see how it could happen——
It can.
——because of the fact that the engineering areas do not coincide with the electoral areas. In any case the local authority members will be elected on 18th June and they will be the people who will decide those things. There are sufficient of them around the House to ensure it will not happen.
There is a lot of back scratching of which the Minister should be aware.
It does not happen in any local authority I know about.