Marie Moloney (Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I would like to make a small point which may appear trivial to some people but has been bothering me for some time. When campaigning for Government, the Labour Party promised better road signage for tourism purposes. However, this proposal appears completely off the scale in Kerry where every by-road is now adorned with about five signposts. That could not be good value for money. Only one signpost is required to inform people of the name or direction of a particular by-road. Surely this money would be better spent on maintenance of the roads. There are many signs which tell us where to go over a potholed road.

There are no sewerage schemes in place in many areas, one being my local townland from which effluent is flowing into the Killarney lakes and the Lough Leane catchment area. Before attacking rural Ireland in the context of septic tanks we need to take a look at our sewerage schemes in terms of the effluent flowing in our natural beauty spots in Killarney and other areas. The summer works scheme is an important scheme for schools and should not be abolished. Funding should be allocated to the summer works scheme. Last week a school in County Kerry with no students was being kept open by the principal sitting in the school. The school buildings are available and all that needs to be done is to refurbish them. If some schools are overcrowded it might be worth considering providing a bus service to take pupils to the empty schools that are sitting idle.