Michael Moynihan
Ceist:307 Mr. Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment if there are any funds available for improvement of roads in certain areas to assist the development of tourism.
Written Answers. - Improvement of Roads.
Over the next four years, there will be a substantial increase in State investment in the national primary routes N1 to N25, which may qualify for the maximum EC aid rate of 75 per cent. This investment is designed to meet a number of objectives including the development of the tourism industry by improving access from the main ports and airports to tourist centres, by making tourist journeys shorter and more comfortable and by making urban areas more attractive to visitors through the removal of through traffic.
State investment in other roads of major significance to the development of tourism at sub-regional or local level may also qualify for EC aid within the limits set in the Community Support Framework adopted by the EC.
Responsibility for undertaking any works on the network of non-national roads, including the provision of the necessary finance, is primarily a matter for the local authorities. They may use the discretionary grants for non-national roads paid by my Department to supplement expenditure from their own resources on such works. The Department's 1989 memorandum on road grants requested the authorities to have special regard, in the spending of these grants, to the need for regional development generally and particularly in the growth areas of tourism, forestry and aquaculture.