Vol. 499 No. 2
9 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the consultations, if any, he held with local authorities before finalising the 1999 capital allocation for the improvement and maintenance of national roads, Subhead C.1 of his Department's Estimate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2164/99]
The 1999 Estimates provision of £336 million for the improvement and maintenance of national roads, which represents an increase of 17 per cent over 1998, was determined having regard to: the policy framework for the improvement of national roads as set out in the Operational Programme for Transport 1994-9 and to which regional interests, and through them local authorities, had an input; information in relation to commitments on schemes in progress available from the NRA, and assessments undertaken by the NRA such as the national roads needs study, of investment needs in the national roads network.
The NRA has been assigned the role of planning and supervising the national roads programme and of allocating grants for that purpose to local authorities. Discussions on individual annual national road allocations are therefore appropriately conducted between the NRA and local authorities and my Department has no involvement in them.
The process of preparing the National Development Plan 2000-2006 involves a major input from regional interests. Local authorities have had the opportunity to contribute to these regional submissions in relation to national roads and other matters of concern to them.
I appreciate the Minister's reply but unfortunately it means nothing whatsoever to the county of Monaghan where I reside and through which the M2 road runs. It has not benefited by one single penny from this massive increase at National Roads Authority level. The Minister claims he does not have responsibility for how the National Roads Authority spends its money. However, his party's Deputies in Cavan claimed full responsibility for the £10 million it received for the M3.
Is there any way in which the Minister can use his influence to ensure some money is found somewhere to start some of the necessary by-passes for Carrickmacross, Castleblayney and Monaghan town? I am sure the Minister is aware that Monaghan town – where he was when he launched his document in Opposition – is in crisis. If an accident occurred –
The Deputy will appreciate the House cannot go through questions county by county.
I appreciate your tolerance. I ask the Minister to ensure that the crisis in Monaghan town is dealt with. God forbid that anything like what occurred at Omagh should happen again, but if it did in Monaghan no ambulance or fire brigade could get to the scene.
I thank the Deputy for acknowledging that I have given a massive increase in the block grant to the NRA for national routes – as I said it is a 17 per cent increase over 1998 and it is £70 million more than was provided for improvements in 1997.
On the specific items the Deputy raised, I am aware from representations made to me, which I have passed on to the NRA through colleagues in that constituency, of the bypass to which he referred. I do not want to be accused of misleading the Dáil but I understand money has been made available to advance planning and design on some of those bypasses but I will convey the Deputy's concern directly to the NRA.
Will the Minister accept that we spend a disproportionate amount on roads compared to sustainable modes of transport such as rail, and that if we continue to encourage car transport we will have no hope of meeting our commitments under the Kyoto Agreement because, as the Minister is aware, transport is increasingly the main source of CO2 emissions?
In an ideal world with a sufficient rail network we would probably have a different balance between road and rail. If the Deputy told people living in Deputy Crawford's constituency or other parts of the country which do not have a rail network that we should not spend money on roads, they would not agree with him. We must put this into perspective. There is a need for rebalance in the cities and larger towns where there is an infrastructure and there are viable alternatives, but there are parts of the country where roads are the only solution. As long as that remains the case I will try to ensure that everybody in the country is treated equally, not just those living in cities.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
