Vol. 394 No. 8
336 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for the Environment whether the building of the Dundrum by-pass for Dundrum, Dublin 14, forms part of the Government's current five year road programme; when the proposed by-pass will be built; and when funds will be provided by the Government for the provision of the by-pass to relieve severe traffic congestion in the Dundrum area of south Dublin.
The cost of constructing or improving non-national roads, such as the proposed Dundrum by-pass, normally falls to be financed by the local authorities from their own resources supplemented by the discretionary grants for road improvements provided annually by my Department. The timing of the construction of schemes funded in this way is a matter for the relevant local authority. Only a limited amount of funding is available to the Department to provide special road grants for such projects.
It is not proposed to identify specific non-national road projects in the roads element of the operational programme for roads and other transport infrastructure, a draft of which has been submitted to the EC Commission in accordance with the Community Support Framework adopted by the Commission. The selection of non-national road projects to receive special road grants will be made in the context of the annual road grant allocation process, having regard to the budgetary provisions available for such projects, the competing demands of projects of this type throughout the country and whether the projects meet the criteria for assistance from EC Structural Funds.
It is intended that an element of the Dundrum by-pass project, linking Sandyford Road to Ballinteer Road, will be built in conjunction with the Southern Cross Route which is scheduled for construction during the period 1992 to 1995, subject to the statutory procedures involved. I am not in a position, at this stage, to indicate a likely construction period for the remainder of the by-pass project.
