asked the Minister for Local Government why new trunk roads are not designed by his Department's engineers, since his Department pay one hundred per cent of the cost.

Responsibility for the preparation and execution of schemes for the construction and maintenance of public roads, including trunk roads, is vested by law in the road authorities.

Does the Minister not agree that it causes considerable delay when, a county engineer and his staff having prepared plans for a new road, the plans have to go to the Department where similarly qualified people brood over them once more? Is that not an unnecessary duplication of effort?

I do not imagine it is any more illogical than the situation where plans which have had junior engineers for the preliminary work should go to the county engineer who has to go over their work.

The fact that they have to go to the Department after the county engineer has prepared them is ridiculous.

It would be more ridiculous if we here were to go into them again.

Why do the Department's engineers not do the entire job?

For a number of years, behind the scenes, they have been doing a considerable amount of the work trying to get some logic into the system of roads radiating from Dublin.

It should be a joint effort.

To a large extent, behind the scenes, it is a joint effort.