Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 1

Written Answers - Roads Funding.

Joe Higgins

Ceist:

213 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason for the £200 million grant aid to local authorities to improve secondary roads in view of the fact that the public transport infrastructure, particularly rail services, is in need of major investment and improvement; whether his Department has eco-audited this initiative; if so, the methodology used to assess it; and the plans, if any, his Department has to require local authorities to carry out an environmental impact assessment of these proposed works. [5728/98]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey)

The Operational Programme for Transport, 1994-99, which partly funds the non-national roads programme, is an integrated package of investment in roads, public transport, ports and airports. The bulk of the investment on non-national roads in 1998 will be spent on the maintenance or restoration of existing roads. Such works do not involve significant environmental impacts and, in general, the non-national roads programme is generally designed to harmonise with the environment and to cause a minimum of inconvenience to the public.

Where schemes of potentially significant environmental impact arise under the programme, the Road Act, 1993 provides for an appropriate and transparent evaluation of projects, including the preparation of environmental impact statements where necessary. For certain road schemes for which an EIS is not required to be carried out, the Local Government (Planning and Development) Regulations 1994 and 1995 provide for procedures of public notice and comment for various categories of road works as prescribed.