asked the Minister for Economic Planning and Development the number of miles of major roads or motorways which the increased allocation of "up to twice the 1978 provision of £23 million for road improvement" will build; and the basis on which priority is to be given to requests for such finance.
Ceisteanna—Questions . Oral Answers . - Road Improvement .
10.
: It is not possible to give any indication of the mileages of roadway that would be built as a result of the increased investment mentioned in the Green Paper. Improvement grants are allocated not only to build new roads but also to improve existing roads. Costs of building roads vary enormously between rural and urban areas. As stated in Paragraph 5.10 of the Green Paper, if the additional funds are made available, the works undertaken will be chosen from those to be programmed in the road development plan promised in the Government's pre-election manifesto.
: Would the Minister agree that the implication of the paragraph in the Green Paper headed "Internal Transport" is that CIE's plans for a rapid rail system will take a lower order of priority than motorways or major road proposals? Is that a fair inference?
: No. The references in the Green Paper are to point out the need for an adequate transport system. Surely that has an important role to play in developing the economy. The point is made that, on the one hand, there are quite expensive proposals for modernisation and improvement of the rail system and on the other hand quite extensive proposals for improving the roads system. In deciding the relative allocations between the two, one has to take into account the contribution each can make to improving the effectiveness of the transport system as a whole.
: Is the Minister aware that with regard to the whole infrastructural planning of these areas for the future, the Dublin transportation study, the McKinsey Report, and public statements of local authority planners in this area, clearly show that each of the three component parts is an essential feature of the plan? Those three parts are the rapid rail, the motorway and certain controls on car parking. It is not a choice of one or the other. The three complement each other and they are an essential feature of the total plan. Therefore, it is somewhat invidious to pick one as opposed to the other.
: I did not suggest we should pick one at the expense of the other.
: It is in the Green Paper.
: It is not. It talks about the relative contribution each mode of transport can make. It also talks about the contribution to an efficient transport system.
: Would the Minister not agree that the whole emphasis of the section in the Green Paper relating to prospective motorway construction is quite decisively to down-grade CIE's proposition for a rapid rail Dublin suburban system? It is rather dismissive of it, largely on the grounds of job creation. Therefore, the prospects for CIE must be very chilling in terms of their future Dublin electrification programme.
: If that is the inference the Deputy wishes to draw, he is entitled to do so.
: It is very clear.
: No, it is not. I have already said what the basis of the statement is.
: We are having argument rather than questions.
: In relation to the possible doubling of the allocation "up to twice the 1978 provision of £23 million" for roads and motorways by 1980, is the Minister aware that the cost of the projected motorway and road schemes is of the order of perhaps £500 million to £600 million at current prices and would therefore make the figure of £23 million, although commendable in itself, somewhat derisory? There is a risk that the whole transport system could become more chaotic than it is unless much more funds are made available.
: Question No. 11.
: Is the Minister aware of the cost of those schemes?
: I am indeed. The cost of the last section of the construction of the Bray road between Donnybrook and Booterstown Avenue works out at the equivalent of £1.6 million per mile and it is estimated that the cost of embarking on the scheme this year would be in the region of £2 million per mile.
: We are both familiar with that. I am a member of Dublin County Council. The average cost projected to build one mile of surburban motorway in 1979 is some £2 million. Would not the Minister agree that giving £2 million to CIE for the carrying of passengers in the greater Dublin area would, on a cost benefit analysis basis, be far more productive and viable?
: I am certainly aware that if we spend twice or three times as much as was spent during the term of office of the Coalition we will manage to make some impact on the problem.