Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I appreciate this opportunity to raise an important issue. I am sure the Ceann Comhairle remembers the extraordinary condition of the roads in the Cavan-Monaghan area in the early and mid-1990s. It was impossible to travel on many of the roads in the region at that time. The first major increase in the area's road grant was sanctioned in 1995. While the amount of money that was allocated at the time might seem fairly small by comparison with the costs which have to be met today — there has been a massive increase in material — it started the process of putting better structures in place. The existence of better structures, in general, is adding to my concern about what has happened in recent times. My Fine Gael county council colleagues are extremely worried about what has happened in the Castleblayney, mid-Monaghan, south Monaghan and Clontibret areas. This is as a result of the good work in building the Castleblayney bypass which goes from north of Clontibret village to the Dublin side of Castleblayney. However, there is no quarry in the immediate area and the stones and other materials had to be transported long distances on regional and county roads. A total of 35 minor roads are involved along with a number of regional roads. I will mention the Oram road, an important cross-Border road. This road has an allocation this year of €900,000 as a result of the decision by the county council and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The Ballybay road has also suffered dramatically. A road called the Cavanakilta road stretches from the Carrickmacross road and bypasses part of the town. This road has been greatly abused.

Monaghan County Council identified a need for €5,547,000 for mid-Monaghan roads alone but the NRA will give a grand total of €282,000. Once again the NRA has a baseline figure. It gives a certain percentage of the overall cost of the job for the restructuring of the roads in the area.

I remind the Minister of State that this is a unique situation. This is a network of small byroads together with one or two major regional roads. They have been destroyed and they are back to the condition they were in during the old days of the 1980s and early 1990s. They will not be repaired without realistic funding.

While I appreciate more than most, the money that has been allocated to the N2 over the past number of years, it is money that we are due. The Carrickmacross bypass, the Monaghan bypass and the Castleblayney bypass are all vital pieces of infrastructure. Reference was made earlier tonight to the €1.5 billion being spent on railways but we have no railways in Cavan-Monaghan. We have no other means of transport other than the roads and therefore this job is essential.

I fought with the Ceann Comhairle and others to ensure we got the funding. We never missed an NRA meeting or a meeting with the Minister. We received tremendous support from the management of Monaghan County Council and consultants were brought in to do a survey of the roads ten years ago. This work is good. The people living on these wee roads and using the regional roads cannot be ignored. I beg the Minister of State to ensure that the funds are made available to restructure these roads otherwise it will cost far more in the long term.

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