Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I particularly highlight the area of rural roads in north-west Kildare. Clearly, there has been tremendous pressure on many of these roads because they are being used by vehicles which are too large for them. Indeed, many gravel pits and the like have contributed to the damage. However, significant budgetary constraints are experienced by Kildare County Council as a direct result of the population growth. Although it may well have escaped notice, Kildare is the fourth most populous county, behind Dublin, Cork and Galway. It has overtaken Limerick. Kildare now has a large population, with all the related demands placed on it. Obviously, the stresses and strains are being seen in areas such as roads.

Kildare County Council carried out a dilapidation survey of roads in north-west Kildare which were west of the R402, the Enfield-Edenderry road. Subsections of the road were categorised as very poor, poor, fair, good or very good, and good was identified as a road with good visibility which was free of potholes for at least 1 km or which had no more than ten repaired potholes per 1 km. The council then carried out a costing exercise to calculate the cost of bringing the road up to a good standard. The cost per square metre was based on the historical knowledge, VAT etc. Kildare County Council concluded that bringing up to good condition the 230,000 sq m of road that need to be addressed would cost €2.83 million, but it has allocated €300,000 for this year which is significantly short of what is needed.

Over the winter some of the bus services for school children were not provided because the roads were inadequate. Some of the roads have crumbled at each side and are not even capable of taking cars in both directions simultaneously.

Kildare motorists paid €35 million in motor tax last year into the local government fund, for which it is ring-fenced, and the local authorities in Kildare received €27 million back. I, therefore, reckon that Kildare is the biggest net contributor to that fund.

Taking the local government fund and the commercial rates together, the two counties with the lowest spend per head of population were Meath and Kildare, respectively. While within those counties the widespread perception is that the money must be spent in Naas, Newbridge or elsewhere, it is the inadequacy of resources that is the problem. By not spending enough, there is a degree of wastage by repairing roads rather than doing a proper job.

Some years ago the former Minister, Pádraig Flynn, declared a war on potholes and I want the Minister, Deputy Roche, to declare a war on potholes in north-west Kildare. I have a copy of the photographs concerned to hand and if the Minister saw them, he would agree this is not acceptable in a country that is as well off as we are. With regard to transport, a state-of-the art highway was constructed not far from this part of County Kildare by a public private partnership which is not used by everyone because these people face difficulties in accessing it. They feel like the forgotten people. I would like to give the Minister a copy of the photographs and I invite him to meet these people because I am sure they would welcome him if he came to see first-hand the difficult circumstances they are experiencing, although he would be shocked by the condition of the roads. I hope he will not tell me how many millions have been allocated to County Kildare or how well-off the county is because that is a myth.

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