Mr. Dominic Mullaney:

There are two reasons for it. Councils put their own resources into local roads. It is not only Exchequer money that goes into them. The problem is that a council that puts very little of its own resources into its roads will have roads in worse condition than a council that puts a lot in and we would therefore essentially be penalising the counties that have provided funding themselves because, if allocations were to be based on condition, the next time a condition survey is done, these councils would do less well. Councils who did not spend the money effectively would also be rewarded for doing so. We have therefore come to the conclusion that the fairest way to make allocations is to do so based on road length. Because there is a backlog, all of the councils need these moneys. There is no danger that we are giving them too much. That is essentially how it is done. Most councils are happy with it, although they will always argue for more.