Deputies seek finance for damaged road network

The need for finance to repair the secondary road network in Clare was raised on an adjournment debate by Deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey.

Deputy Breen said this had been one of the harshest winters of the past 50 years.
“We have had frost and snow in County Clare since 22 December last,” he said. “I suppose it was not until the bad weather hit the city of Dublin that the Government decided to take some action. We did not have the leadership needed to deal with the crisis, unfortunately. We had no Taoiseach and no Tánaiste. The only response was from the Minister, Deputy O’Dea. When he was asked why the Army was not being called in, he said it had not been asked to come in. The Minister, Deputy Gormley, blamed everybody other than the Government for the crisis.”
In the absence of leadership from the Government, local communities and local authorities stepped up to the plate to assist elderly people and grit neighbourhood roads, he said.
“I commend Clare County Council, which did a great job in keeping the main arteries open, despite its limited resources. The problems caused by the big freeze were compounded when the thaw set in and the state of the roads became apparent. Motorists have to contend with huge potholes as they go about their daily business. Having driven on the roads of County Clare over recent days, I am familiar with the problems on the R465 between Limerick and Broadford, for example. Roads like the N68 are badly afflicted with potholes.”
Deputy Carey said money would have to be forthcoming. The ministers could not pretend that this did not happen.
“Roads are being left in a very dangerous condition,” he said. “I travelled on many roads in County Clare. The road from Ennistymon to Kilfenora is falling apart. The road from Broadford to Limerick is in a terrible condition, as is the road between Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus and other roads in the Clarecastle, Mountshannon and Whitegate districts. This is a road safety issue. I was encouraged by the reply to a parliamentary question that I received, in which the minister said he is looking for an audit of roads from local authorities. I ask the Government to come up with the goods if such an audit is presented.”
Speaking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Minister of State Barry Andres said local authorities are expressly advised that they should set aside contingency sums from their overall regional and local roads resources to finance necessary weather related works. Applications for additional funding to carry out remedial works to roads and bridges following bad weather and flooding could only be considered in exceptional circumstances.
“Earlier this year, the Department of Transport asked those local authorities particularly affected by flooding to provide an assessment of the additional road costs incurred,” he said. “Last week, the department requested all local authorities to provide information on the likely additional costs of the recent severe weather over and above their normal winter maintenance expenditure and to identify the principal components of the additional costs. While the department has received some information on the impact of the November flooding, the collection of information on the recent cold weather is still ongoing.”
It would take some time to establish costs as the damage is still becoming evident and was being quantified on a daily basis, he said. However, the Minister had asked all local authorities to provide information as soon as possible to enable him to assess the full impact of the severe weather when deciding on the 2010 regional and local road grant allocations. In allocating those grants the Minister would prioritise expenditure to deal with damage caused by the recent exceptional weather.

Mid-West Task Force report
A call for the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the Mid-West Task report so that Limerick and the Mid-West will be the number one priority for foreign direct investment was made by Limerick East Fine Gael Deputy Kieran O’Donnell.
Speaking on an adjournment debate, he said the task force was established in February 2009 in the wake of the announcement by Dell that more than 2,000 people would lose their jobs as a result of the closing of its Limerick facility.
“Its report was completed and published within a short period by July 2009,” he said. “Yet we find some seven months later that little if any of its recommendations have been implemented. That is not good enough.”
The report stated that Limerick and the Mid-West should be made a priority region for foreign direct investment.
“Yet we find that since the announcement by Dell, not one single IDA-backed job has been created in Limerick or in the neighbouring counties of Tipperary or Kerry,” he said. “A total of 134 jobs were created in Clare last February, around the time the task force was established. However, 2,500 new IDA-backed jobs went to Cork, Dublin, Kildare and Galway. The majority of the Mid-West region did not get one.”
How, he asked, will the European Globalisation Fund work in practice? This was a fund of €23 million, consisting of €8 million of taxpayers’ money from the Irish Government and €15 million from the EU. “When will it be fully up and running and how can it be accessed? This is a key issue for people who want to become entrepreneurs.”
Minister of State Dara Calleary said the European Globalisation Fund, EGF, was approved by EU budgetary authorities last December and he anticipated the transfer of EU funds later this month.
“Provision has also been made under my department’s vote, for the national financing element. The timeframe perunder the fund is September 2011. FÁS has already provided guidance services and training courses to over 1,500 workers affected  by the closure of the Dell plant in County Limerick.”
He said his department would be the managing authority for EGF funding in the State, while  the Department of Education and Science, FБS and Enterprise Ireland would be designated intermediate bodies for funds transfer, reporting and monitoring purposes. Approved funding would be made available to public beneficiaries delivering services on the ground to eligible redundant workers.
“All intermediate bodies must certify expenditure in their areas of responsibility and report to my Department and all expenditure must adhere to relevant EU and national accounting and auditing procedures,” he added.