Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 18 Apr 1991

Vol. 407 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Cork Bridge.

Mr. G. O'Sullivan

This is a very serious matter and I raise it to appeal to the Minister to reconsider his decision not to provide a special grant to Cork Corporation to carry out very important and urgent repairs to Parliament Bridge in Cork. Some weeks ago I put down a question to the Minister asking him if this money was forthcoming. In reply he said that because the bridge is not on a primary route money for the repairs would have to be provided from our own resources. At that time Cork Corporation had not received their allocation from the Department for the roads programme in Cork city but have since received it. They sought an allocation of £4.5 million but received only £4.85 million. Obviously this means that Cork Coporation will not have sufficient resources to carry out the very necessary work on this bridge.

While Parliament Bridge may not be a primary route in the strict sense of the word, for thousands of people it is a primary route into the city centre. The bridge was built in 1806. It is an historic, picturesque and beautiful bridge. Cork Corporation have taken the necessary steps to assess the damage done to this bridge, particularly in the last 30 to 40 years when due to the one way system in Cork great volumes of traffic have been funnelled over this bridge into the city centre.

The main shopping centre in Cork city is built on an island between two channels of the Lee. There are approximately 20 bridges spanning the Lee into the city centre. If one of these bridges had to be taken out of commission at any time the result would be traffic chaos, but Cork Corporation have pinpointed a bridge which could be used, perhaps Johnston Bridge or a type of Bailey Bridge at Sullivans Quay, adjacent to Parliament Bridge, in the hope that the Minister would sanction the £500,000 which is needed to carry out these urgent repairs.

It would be completely impossible for Cork Corporation to carry out this work from their own resources. There is a programme of ring roads circling the city which would take the heavy traffic out of the city centre. This plan has been in progress for a number of years and is nearing fruition. I trust the Minister will shortly make the very important decision on the downstream river crossing which will dovetail the ring roads around Cork and complete the whole system.

Until such time as the decision is made and until we have the correct traffic system, we will have to funnel most of our heavy traffic through our city centre streets. Parliament Bridge is a key part of that traffic system at present. Will the Minister look very carefully at this appeal which we have made on a number of occasions? Over the last two or three years we have asked for a grant but we have been refused each time. However, the time is rapidly approaching when something will have to be done by Cork Corporation or the Department of the Environment. I ask the Minister to give some concession whereby the engineers in Cork Corporation, who are very concerned that the bridge will collapse, may make it safe. I am not appealing for funds from the road allocation but for this grant which we have been seeking for a number of years. Will the Minister sympathetically consider it?

Minister for the Environment (Mr. Flynn)

I have noted the case that Deputy O'Sullivan has made on the need for work on Parliament Bridge in Cork city.

In January 1988, proposals were received in my Department for strengthening works on Parliament Bridge. The corporation's proposals envisage the closing of the bridge for a period of up to four months while strengthening works are carried out. The consequent disruption of traffic would be alleviated by relocating the Mabey Johnson Bridge, which is at present on Lavitt's Quay, to Sullivan's Quay. This will provide an alternative route for Parliament Bridge.

As Parliament Bridge does not form part of the network of national roads, primary responsibility for the proposed works rests with the local authority, Cork Corporation. The cost of such work falls to be financed from local resources supplemented by the discretionary grants provided annually by my Department. In the case of Cork Corporation, these grants in 1991, total £810,000. The determination of priorities in the expenditure of these grants and local authority resources is a matter for the local authority.

The financing of works such as those required for Parliament Bridge by the Department must be viewed in the context of the overall funds available for road grants. In this context Cork Corporation have been treated very fairly. The overall allocation I made to them in 1991 was £4,581,000. The bulk of this was for work on the national roads network and it will allow the corporation to carry out their very considerable programme of works on the Southern Ring Road as well as some strengthening of existing roads, bridge strengthening and traffic management schemes. I have allocated £3,741,000 to Cork Corporation, between improvement and maintenance, for national roads in their functional area.

The Government's expenditure on improvements to national roads is set out in the Operational Programme of Peripherality which I published late last year. This programme provides for roads investment of £616 million over the period 1989-1993 of which £416 million will be financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The commitment to the programme will naturally limit the funding available for non-national roads, yet I was able to provide £79.3 million for such roads in 1991.

A limited amount of funding is available for special road grant assistance towards the cost of providing and improving non-national roads. The allocation of these funds is determined having regard to the priority of eligible proposals throughout the country. Having regard to the level of funds available to me and the priority of other projects requiring assistance, I do not propose to make special road grant assistance available for works at Parliament Bridge.