asked the Minister for Local Government if he will arrange that money is provided for widening and for sighting improvements on the Milltown-Killorglin road which is the most dangerous stretch of road in County Kerry and which is not now able to take the heavy volume of traffic with safety.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Kerry Road.
13.
The funds available for road fund grants to local authorities in 1976 have already been allocated and there are no other funds at my disposal from which an additional grant for improvement works on this road may be made this year. It is open to Kerry County Council, should they wish to do so, to consider providing for the improvement of the road with the assistance of the grants available to them.
Is the Minister aware that Kerry County Council state that this matter is subject to verification by the Department, that they have no say in the matter? The road concerned is the main road to Dublin. It runs through Milltown and Farranfore and it is used by huge milk tankers which carry loads of up to 30,000 tons in weight. People are terrified of using the road. In those circumstances I ask the Minister to have it listed for next year's grant allocation.
I am aware that there are many national secondary roads in Kerry, comprising a total of 164 miles. Of those roads 32 miles are in need of improvements, improvements that would cost a considerable sum of money. However, the Deputy can be assured that whatever money can be allocated for such work will be made available. The officials in my Department are aware of the situation and we will be glad to help out as best we can. We will be glad to try to help out if we can. I am sure Deputy O'Connor is aware that it is difficult to find all the money and this year quite a lot of money was allocated in block grants for the purpose of doing roads which had not been done for many years.
This is a three mile stretch of road. Two or three sections are very narrow and have had turns. Perhaps it could be widened for sighting purposes. It is a very dangerous section and I would ask the Minister to get his Department to direct Kerry County Council to carry out these improvements.
My advice is that a survey carried out by An Foras Forbartha showed the road was deficient in capacity and payment and it is accepted that improvements, including widening, need to be carried out; but such works are not considered of equal priority to other works required on the national network both in County Kerry and nationally. According to my expert's advice, even Kerry County Council would not put that portion of the road at the top of the priority list. There is no point in leaving it half done.
May I ask the Minister——
A brief supplementary Deputy, and a final one.
About a quarter of a mile beyond my house lorries and vans are continuously getting stuck in each other. They cannot go through.
They should drive a little more slowly.
A question Deputy, please.
Would the Minister have that taken into consideration? The engineers in County Kerry know the situation and they tell me——
Order. Next question, please.