andMr. Tully asked the Minister for the Environment if he will specify for each local authority how the £59.44 million estimated in the Public Capital Programme 1981 for construction and improvement of public roads will be spend and how much will be spent on the following categories of roads indicating in each case the number of miles detailed for improvements: (i) national primary. (ii) national secondary, (iii) main other than national, (iv) county, (v) county borough and (vi) borough/urban: and if he will give a breakdown for each category of the amount which will be spent on (a) maintenance and (b) improvements.

23.

andMr. Tully asked the Minister for the Environment how much of the national primary system will be improved in terms of mileage as a consequence of the expenditure under the Public Capital Programme 1981.

I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 22 and 23 together and, as the reply contains a tabular statement, to circulate it with the Official Report.

The gross provision for construction and improvement of public roads contained in the 1981 Public Capital Programme is £60 million which is offset by receipts of £0.56 million from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. The full amount of £60 million has been provided for grant expenditure on road improvement works. An additional sum of £20 million has been provided for grant expenditure on maintenance works, which does not come within the Public Capital Programme.

On foot of that provision of £60 million I have allocated grants totalling £67.149 million to road authorities for improvement works, of which £37.697 million have been allocated for the national primary system; £9.632 million for the national secondary system and £11.186 millions for specific main, county, county borough, borough and urban roads. A sum of £8.634 million is included in the block grants allocated to road authorities, which supplement the amount of their own resources applied to the maintenance and improvement of main and urban roads, and to the improvement of county roads.

The tabular statement shows the grants I have allocated to each road authority for improvement works on the national primary system; the national secondary system; specific roads other than national roads; and the total of block grants allocated for works on roads other than national roads. Improvement grants relate to particular road and bridge projects at particular locations and mileage of roads is accordingly not a factor in these allocations.

While the full provision of £60 million will be paid to road authorities in the year in respect of expenditure incurred by them on grant-aided works, I am not in a position to anticipate the precise expenditure which will be incurred by each authority on particular works. Following is the statement:

Road Grants 1981

Road Grants 1981

I thank the Minister for his detailed reply. If the extent of improvement to the national primary system is calculated, is it calculated in terms of mileage?

It is not calculated in terms mileage.

Is it calculated in terms of kilometres?

No.