Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

The transfer of functions to the Department of Transport seems logical and laudable in some respects. It can only be effective if it deals with a certain range of issues. I can only speak for my constituency of Cork East and for the general Cork area, where funding for non-national roads has been absolutely derisory. If this Bill is to mean anything, it must ensure funding is effective and will trickle down through the various divisions within Cork County Council and its engineering areas.

What we have seen to date is that roads prioritised under Transport 21 receive funding, which is welcome, but non-national roads or secondary roads receive no funding whatsoever. The N72 and N73 are particular examples. If we are to take Mallow, Mitchelstown and Fermoy, which are on those routes, one will serve the main tourist route between Waterford and Killarney and the other will serve the main route from Kanturk, west of Mallow and through to Dublin.

Mallow currently has hub-town status but we are not getting the trickle-down effect of financial incentives to create the northern relief road, which is vital to a town like Mallow and its surrounding areas in terms of its attractiveness for inward investment and the creation of infrastructure around the town.

We need a change in policy and funding for roads such as these. They are vital arteries for towns such as Mallow, Mitchelstown and Fermoy, but they have become dangerous roads because of a lack of proper funding. To travel the road from Mallow to Mitchelstown on a day such as today, in some instances one is taking one's life in one's hands. Two lorries cannot pass each other comfortably on some parts of the road without stopping or slowing down to speeds of 5 km/h or 10 km/h. That speaks volumes about the Government not investing properly in such infrastructure.

Deputy Ferris spoke of community involvement and local improvement schemes. There is almost a begging-bowl mentality in this regard for public representatives such as myself. I have to go cap in hand to local area engineers to seek funding or to have certain roads prioritised within divisional engineering areas, which is completely ludicrous in this day and age. If people pay road tax and a development contribution for the building of a house in a rural part of the county, I do not see why they should have to pay extra to have a road included in a local improvement or community involvement scheme. These people should have the same rights and entitlements as any other citizen of this State to have the road outside their houses in an acceptable condition.

The Cork to Limerick road also speaks volumes about Government policy, as we in Mallow and north Cork have been waiting for this northern relief road but are almost at the mercy of Transport 21 and the funding streams of the NRA. There is also the question of whether the NRA will get the requisite funding to be able to create the Atlantic corridor between Cork and Limerick, and whether a spur will be created for the northern relief road.

These are policy issues as to how funding is implemented at the local level but they have a great effect on people's lives. That is what we are speaking to in debating this legislation. Will a change in legislation bring about a marked increase in the quality of people's lives, as we must ensure it does?

I spoke about development contributions and the current funding of local government is completely inequitable. If a young couple applies for planning permission today, they will be levied at exorbitant rates for contributions on the building of their house. It adds to the cost of building and they do not see a return in terms of increased lighting or improvements in the road surface outside the house. The money is centralised within the county council and then divvied out through the division. The northern division of a county council would compete with the southern division for funding into specific areas.

The entire area of Government policy as it pertains to roads must be looked at. If we are to enhance the quality of people's lives, any effect or change in the legislation must ensure this happens.

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