Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

Indeed. They are here on a lobby to ensure that the county will not be divided. Who better to do that than members of the young generation from Roscommon and Leitrim who are present?

I am pleased indeed that the Minister of State has announced that a review is under way. He will be aware from his time as a Member of the European Parliament that a regional approach to the standardisation of road surfaces and networks is lacking. I refer particularly to the manner in which money is spent.

The Minister of State and those of us from the Border counties are familiar with the INTERREG IIIA programme, which has been of tremendous benefit, especially in Leitrim. I know I am being parochial, but I praise the outstanding work of the engineering staff of Leitrim County Council, who have ensured that, despite the fact that Leitrim is the smallest county and that attempts are being made to split it in two, I can stand on the statement that we have one of the finest non-national road networks in the country. As anybody who goes into the county will testify, practically all of our non-national regional roads, as they are now called, are black-topped. Sadly, that is not the case in the neighbouring counties, and I wonder why. Is it to do with funding, prioritisation or a lack of co-ordination between the various engineering staffs in the surrounding counties? I state, not as a criticism but as an observation, that it is possible to notice a change in the road surfaces when one goes into the counties that surround Leitrim, which I will not name and shame. The road surfaces go from black-topping into chips, for example. I wonder whether the Minister of State might have some comment to make on that.

My second point relates to the ongoing arguments and criticisms concerning the alleged shortfall in the BMW region. It has become something of a canard now; it is a political football that has been kicked around by non-Government people although I do not include Senator Bannon in that. The lead-up to the European elections is an opportune time for the Minister of State to nail that canard. There is no shortfall in the sense that some have alleged — that the Government is somehow neglecting the west and north-west of Ireland. In his speech, the Minister of State referred to the expenditure in that region, and his reply to the debate might be an opportunity for him to nail the allegation.

The ring-fencing of motor tax revenue is one of the best initiatives any Government has introduced since the foundation of the State. For years and years, we kept hearing about that money going into a Government black hole, and since 1997, as Senator Brady described in positive detail, marvellous benefits have accrued from ring-fencing that money, which increases yearly and is unquestionably proving to be beneficial to local authorities.