asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the very serious deterioration of county roads in the Cavan-Monaghan area; to the major impact road conditions are having in an already seriously depressed economic Border area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Cavan-Monaghan Road Conditions.
137.
I presume that the Deputy is referring to the conditions of non-national main and county roads.
Primary responsibility for the networks of non-national main and county roads rests with the local authorities. Under existing arrangements, the cost of works on these roads falls to be financed by a combination of State road grants and local resources. The relevant State grants are the block grant, county road strengthening grant, special improvements grants and grants for EC western package schemes (FEOGA). The grants allocated under these headings for Cavan and Monaghan county councils in 1988 are as follows:
|
Cavan |
Monaghan |
|
|
£ |
£ |
|
|
Block grant |
522,000 |
410,000 |
|
County road strengthening grant |
480,000 |
405,000 |
|
Special improvement grants |
10,000 |
65,000 |
|
FEOGA |
207,000 |
162,000 |
|
Totals |
1,219,000 |
1,042,000 |
The local authorities have considerable discretion regarding the distribution of the block grant for roads and the county road strengthening grant. As announced recently, I have decided that, in future, local authorities can use the block grant for roads on surface dressing and repair of potholes on primary county roads. Local authorities can also adopt a more flexible approach to the grant for strengthening county roads which should be spent on primary county roads as far as practicable. Where it is evident that a stretch of road with a number of potholes is in need of strengthening, the remedial works can qualify for the strengthening grant if the cost of the strengthening is more than half the total cost of the works.
My Department is aware of the general condition of the networks of main and county roads throughout the country as a result of ongoing contact with local authorities as well as submissions received from authorities, including Cavan and Monaghan county councils, and representative bodies such as the County and City Engineers' Association. Detailed information has been received from all county councils, in response to a departmental circular, issued in May 1987, about the condition of the network of county roads together with estimates of the level of investment required to remedy deficiencies in the network. I am considering this information in the context of the preparation of a blueprint for road development which I intend to publish within the next few months. The blueprint will address the question of the medium to long term development needs of the entire system of public roads, including the networks of non-national main roads and county roads.