Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise the important matter of roads funding, which the Tánaiste touched on earlier. Counties Cavan and Monaghan are completely dependent on the rural road network as there is no public transport or railway line. As I have said many times, we need to be imaginative and creative and consider reopening the local rail line. There is a very sad article in The Anglo Celtthis week by Sean McMahon about an elderly lady, Kitty Clarke, who is 74 years of age. A picture speaks a thousand words, as they say, and the article features a photograph of the deplorable state of Curkish Lane in Bailieborough, which is also a public road. I am acutely aware of the problems faced by Cavan and Monaghan county councils in relation to roads funding. I ask the Tánaiste to ensure, in his deliberations at Cabinet with the Minister for Transport, that a positive bias is shown towards counties such as Cavan and Monaghan, which are totally dependent on the rural network, in the provision of roads funding for local authorities.

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