asked the Minister for the Environment if he has yet finalised negotiations whereby the Department of Fisheries and Forestry will reinstate roads which have been damaged in the course of extracting timber from forests.

My predecessor brought this matter to the attention of the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry last year. I understand that his Department are considering the matter at present.

I do not wish to raise Supplementary Questions on every item but I ask the Minister, in all sincerity, to ensure that some final decision will be reached in this instance because a number of people have had their roads, as well as access to the their homes and property destroyed? The county council keep referring the matter back to the Department. It is about time a decision was taken. I urge the Minister of State to finalise this matter.

I have read the file and I share the Deputy's concern. It concerns not only one particular area of the country but any area where there are forests has this problem and the roads are affected. It is tied up between three Departments, the Department of Forestry and Fisheries, my Department and the Department of Finance. It is in the interests of all, but particularly of local authorities, to get a resolution of this problem as soon as possible. I assure the Deputy that I will be moving on it as quickly as I can.

Is the Minister of State aware that this problem will become aggravated with the opening of the timber-based industry in Tipperary this year, that huge loads of timber will have to be carried on our roads and this is something that needs immediate attention? Does he not feel that his Department must have a financial input to solve this problem, which needs to be solved this year?

I believe we have to have an input but I believe that some of the profit, which will now fortunately be generated from our State forests, will in part have to be contributed towards the upkeep of the roads, particularly county roads, which were never designed to carry the kind of traffic that will be generated along them. It will be my concern to ensure that some portion of the wealth that will come from the State forests will be used to ensure that people living adjacent to State forests will not suffer by having the roads churned up by heavy vehicles.

15.