Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and thank him for the lovely road that now stretches as far as Tyrrellspass and will shortly go to Kilbeggan. We really want it to go to Athlone, since Moate has become the new Kinnegad, but that is beside the point.

I wish also to mention briefly the town of Rochfordbridge, whose business people have contacted me. I know that signage is relevant and they would like signs informing motorists that there is a restaurant. The Minister will be familiar with such signs which might indicate, for example, that there is a major secondary school in Rochfordbridge. Whatever the signs for services in towns, Rochfordbridge gets no mention on any. I was asked to speak on the issue and raise it with the Minister. I presume that doing so publicly is the same as doing so privately and that note will be taken.

I cannot understand truck drivers who refuse to use the massive facility that we now have running from Tyrrellspass to far beyond Enfield. We see them on the parallel road to the left as we go through with our €2.60. The wear and tear caused by those huge trucks on the roads, not to mention the drivers, who must watch out for bends, represents a very great shortcoming on the part of truck owners and the drivers themselves who do not use the new road. I met one of them one day and asked why. He shrugged and replied that it was on the boss's orders, which is a great shame.

This Bill does not allow for county roads, being intended to cover much more important matters, but to the people it is the county roads that matter. We travel around to cumann meetings — the other parties may give them an alternative name — and find that the issue of county roads arises constantly. People believe that not enough is being spent on them and that maintenance is insufficient, so there is great dissatisfaction.

Those people take their children to school, visit the local shop, attend church or go into town, but they find themselves short of the proper road surface on which to drive. However, great work is being done, and roads are now being completed ahead of schedule and within costings, which is quite remarkable. I sat on the sub-committee dealing with public transport during the period when we heard horrendous prices quoted which were then disgracefully trebled. That everything is now happening within a tight framework is very good for roads, the Minister, his Department and the National Roads Authority, NRA, which is in charge of seeing that all those plans are brought to fruition.

Perhaps I might mention Rochfordbridge once again. If the Minister can arrange for a note of what I have said to be sent to the NRA, that will save me contacting it myself. Rochfordbridge needs signage, which is not good enough generally. When one drives to Galway via Mullingar, one does not see a sign saying "Athlone, Mullingar". I know that the choice of words is "end destination". That end destination is Galway, but in between comes Athlone. The end destination shown in the case of Mullingar is Westport, and it would do no harm to include an intervening major town on such signage. Other countries seem to have made a great job of signs, but ours are not as modern or as user-friendly as they should be. I will give the rest of my time to Senator Ryan.