Mr. Seán Drew:

The Senator raised a number of issues across various sectors. Our problem in Kells municipal district is with funding. The problem throughout rural Ireland, I would say, is the lack of funding that we receive relative to the major cities. Of the 31 local authorities, Meath County Council has the lowest expenditure per capitaof any local authority. The gap between the city and rural areas is vast. For example, on the revenue account of 2014 of the local authorities - nothing to do with the capital account - there was a surplus in Dublin City Council of €28 million and in Fingal County Council of €16 million. That is the accumulated surplus for one year. In Meath County Council, we have a deficit of €3.5 million. We have brought that down from €8 million in recent years with a major struggle. The impact that lack of funding is having on the development of the Kells municipal district in particular is devastating.

We have heard about the roads and I am delighted to hear that the roads in Cavan have improved to the extent that they have. Unfortunately, in north Meath we now have the worst roads because of a complete lack of funding. We collect motor tax from of €53 million per year from motorists who are resident in Meath. We receive funding of approximately €12 million to €13 million back to maintain the roads throughout the county. Bear in mind, as a previous speaker already stated, that over 31% of those roads are in the Kells municipal district area.

Some of the policies that have been driven by the Oireachtas sound great. For example, the Kells municipal district - which is basically north Meath - was added to the map of the EU regional aid approximately two and a half years ago for a five-year term. We have not received a single penny or job out of that. Colouring in a map for us has done nothing. As a result of the fact that we are on the map in question, the Government is now allowed to designate strategy and incentives towards those EU regional aid areas. However, it is not being done. The fact that we have been coloured in on a map, with which there was great fanfare about two and a half years ago and which we were delighted to get in north Meath, has produced nothing on the ground. Similarly, just-----