Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 4 May 1994

Vol. 442 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Non-National Roads.

Mr. Boylan:

I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this matter. This agonising issue has been ongoing for the past five to seven years but the problem is now unprecedented. What was initially a problem in Cavan is now a national nightmare and everybody seems to be aware of it except the Minister and his officials. People are in despair; one hears stories about families who were embarrassed because they thought it would not be possible to have a decent removal of the remains of a loved one. The operators of school buses are now refusing to provide a service along many county roads and where operators try to facilitate pupils it is extremely dangerous. I have also been informed on numerous occasions in my own county — I am sure this is the position nationwide — that the operators of milk tankers are refusing to collect milk from farms. This is unacceptable. Mushroom producers in my own county are also affected because mushrooms are damaged during transportation because of the condition of the roads.

Many families are living in isolation and fear notwithstanding the fact that they pay the same taxes, PAYE, motor tax or indirect taxes, as those who live along national primary and secondary roads and in urban areas although I admit that this is now a problem in urban areas. Last week I was surprised to find a very bitter delegation from County Meath outside the gates of this House.

There is no point in the Minister saying that this is a matter for the local authorities. I am a member of a local authority and it does not have the finance to make the necessary improvements because its hands are tied. There is also no point in quoting the allocations made to the various counties because they are not sufficient to tackle the problem. The Minister must address it by making emergency funding available to give the people some hope and by specifically stating his plans.

Over three months ago — he made this announcement in my own county — the Minister promised to provide £33.6 million but work on these improvements has not commenced because the local authorities have not been informed how much they will receive. As a member of a local authority, down through the years I was always aware at the end of February or early March how much the local authority would receive when we met the county engineer to decide on the work programme for the year. While the allocations in recent years were not sufficient at least work was started on time. These meetings have not yet taken place in any county this year.

Earlier today the Minister mentioned that the money collected by way of road tax will be put into the roads. I understand that the Exchequer collects in excess of £1.3 billion annually in car, lorry and registration taxes and excise duties; yet, during the period of the National Development Plan £1.6 billion will be allocated for roads. This is not good enough and I ask the Minister to make all the money collected in road tax and excise duties available during the next five years for the restoration of county roads. If the Minister has another proposal to provide a similar amount, I — and the people outside the House — would be delighted to hear it.

Last night I attended an angry meeting in Cootehill, County Cavan, where people were talking about campaigns involving the non-payment of road tax, the withholding of other taxes and the blocking of roads. These are law-abiding citizens who want to do no more than go about their daily business, work their small farms or run their businesses and provide for their families. They need to get their produce to the marketplace and they are entitled to good road conditions. They have the right to have their children travel to school safely, and elderly people have the right to be able to travel to visit their families. I am aware that doctors, people who are extremely dedicated, have refused to travel certain roads to see patients because they are unsafe. I am pleading with the Minister to give some hope to these people and spell out his plans and the amount of money he intends to spend this year and over the next four years to put an end to this terrible state of affairs.

Minister for the Environment (Mr. M. Smith):

As the Deputy is aware, I am introducing a scheme of specific grants this year to meet 100 per cent of the approved cost to local authorities of individual road improvement projects. The grants will total £33.6 million in 1994 and will be paid in full to local authorities from the Exchequer. The payments are, however, expected to qualify for aid from the EU and the projects selected will therefore have to satisfy EU requirements. In particular, these co-financed projects will have to have a significant and quantifiable economic impact, particularly in regard to employment and on industrial, tourism, fisheries, forestry agricultural and rural development. The programme as a whole will be targeted mainly at those regional and local roads of importance to the generation of economic activity and jobs.

I have recently raised the importance of this scheme of grants with Commissioner Millan in Brussels and I am delighted that the European Commission has recognised the need to make Structural Funds available on a significant scale towards State investment in our non-national road network.

Over 450 grant applications were received from local authorities for improvement projects, involving estimated expenditure of £70 million in 1994 and a further £65 million over the following two years. Given the large volume of applications it was necessary to devote considerable time and effort to fully assessing their individual merits. In many cases this necessitated visits by Department officials to local authorities for consultation on their proposals. The process of examining applications is now nearing completion and I expect to anounce grant allocations for individual projects in the very near future.

I have already made it clear to local authorities that grant allocations will depend on the quality of projects put forward and their conformity with guidelines issued by my Department and compliance with EU criteria. As a consequence some county councils can expect to receive higher allocations than others. The grants scheme is scheduled to operate with EU support until 1999 and future years will afford authorities further opportunities to bring forward projects which will make a significant contribution to employment and economic activity so that all can share in the benefits of the new grants scheme as it continues to operate.

Clearly, the Government's commitment to playing its part in helping local authorities carry out their responsibilities for the maintenance and improvement of non-national roads goes far beyond this new scheme of improvement grants. A few points serve to demonstrate the priority that the Government is giving the provision of a proper network of non-national roads. For example, prior to 1988 no State grants were available for the maintenance of county roads. This year's provision for maintenance of all non-national roads is £28.3 million, an increase of £16 million or 130 per cent on 1993; for every pound spent by county councils on non-national roads in 1988, the State paid just over 70 pence. For every pound spent by county councils in 1993 on these roads, the State put up nearly £1.40. In 1994 the State will provide £1,876 for each of the 54,062 miles of road involved — the corresponding figure in 1988 was £882; in the period 1986-1994 State spending on non-national roads increased from £40 million — which represented 33 per cent of total State and local authority expenditure on such roads — to over £101 million, which represents 62.5 per cent of total expenditure. Over the same period local authority investment declined from almost £81 million to £61 million, a drop of 25 per cent, the total State grants provison this year is a record £101.4 million, some £26.1 million more than in 1993 — an increase of 35 per cent.

It is clear that the Government is playing its part in improving the non-national road network and local authorities must also make a realistic contribution in tackling the condition of regional and local roads if all our efforts are to achieve the desired result.

I will be in a position to make these announcements very soon and I hope that local authorities will be able to respond quickly. It is important to mention, because Opposition Deputies seem to ignore the fact, that weather conditions this spring have been deplorable, with three quarters of our year's normal rainfall falling since 1 December which has interrupted much local authority activity. Farmers who were prevented from ploughing and seeding and people who could not work in the bogs during the spring know what I am talking about. At the same time we are being pilloried for spending money on wet roads with drainage problems which will have to be dealt with as the weather dries up. The amount of activity on our county and regional roads this year has never been paralleled. I look forward to seeing the development of our roads which is urgently and badly needed. However, let us deal seriously with the problem without political bias. In recent times there has been increased State involvement in this area. The Deputy's own party cannot say that.

Mr. Boylan:

The Minister is trying to throw the blame on others, but he is the one who is responsible.

An Ceann Comhairle:

The Minister's reply ends the debate at this time. The Deputy has no right to intervene after the Minister has replied.