John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Again, I am taking this Adjournment matter, in this instance on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Dempsey. County councils and other major local authorities are responsible for managing and maintaining all roads and bridges on the regional and local road network in their area. Each year, the Department of Transport assesses the regional and local roads programmes of local authorities and makes substantial grant allocations towards them. Local authorities are also expected to commit an appropriate share of their own resources for this purpose, and the grants that the Department of Transport provide supplement these.

The bridge at Ballinagare was damaged in February 2007. That bridge was a temporary structure and had a weight restriction imposed. Subsequent to the collapse of the bridge, Kerry County Council developed proposals to provide a new replacement bridge at the location and the council sought grant aid from the Department of Transport. In 2008, a road grant of €100,000 was allocated to the council under the specific improvement grants scheme to facilitate design work for a new bridge. Kerry County Council included the bridge at Ballinagare in its application for grant aid in 2009 and, in February last, initial road grant allocations were made. At that time, a grant of €600,000 was proposed to facilitate construction work on the bridge.

The current economic climate and the difficult position of the Exchequer has, unfortunately, had an impact on the Government's ambitious plans for the development of our road network. In reviewing NDP expenditure for the rest of 2009 it was found necessary to reduce the overall level of Exchequer funds available for improvement works to regional and local roads. This impacted on all local authorities. The grants originally allocated in February 2009 were reviewed and revised road grants issued to all local authorities on 14 April 2009.

The revised road grants allocated to Kerry County Council in April amount to €17.985 million. This is a significant supplement to the expenditure proposed by Kerry County Council from its own resources at a time when public finances are under serious pressure. This grant aid was allocated under a number of grant categories and included a total of €3.1 million for ten specific improvement projects. These included the proposed new bridge at Ballinagare which was allocated €25,000.

In deciding on the revised grant allocations, the approach taken was to fund legal contractual commitments and prioritise work necessary to complete projects already under construction. Local authorities were, however, also advised that there would be flexibility as to how the grant aid may be used. It is open to Kerry County Council, if it wishes, to reprioritise the expenditure of the €3.1 million which is available for specific improvement works in 2009 and to submit an alternative programme to the Department of Transport which could allow construction work to start on the bridge. This is a matter for the council to decide in the first instance and Department of Transport officials are available to assist the council in reviewing its road programme if the council requests.

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