Judgment saves State major funding problem

The state faced the prospect of having to find several hundred million pounds to improve minor roads when Miss Justice Carroll ordered Cavan County Council in 1996 to repair the stretch of potholed road at the centre of yesterday's Supreme Court appeal.

The High Court judge had visited the road before delivering her judgment on the case brought by 34 residents of the six-mile section between Ashgrove and Staghall in Belturbet. Residents told her their children could not cycle to school and several had sustained injuries in falls caused by the condition of the road.

Delivering a ruling in favour of the residents, Miss Justice Carroll said that the Government was obliged to foot the repair bill as local authorities had a statutory duty to maintain roads. As the council no longer had the power to raise domestic and agricultural rates, the Exchequer would have to "make up the shortfall", she ruled.

However, Cavan County Council appealed on the basis that it would cost £40 million to repair the 600 county roads which it admitted were in a comparable condition to that of the Ashgrove-Staghall Road.

It was estimated at the time that the Department of the Environment would have had to find several hundred million pounds to speed up the repair of the State's 87,800 kilometres of minor roads if the judgment was upheld. The Attorney General intervened and was heard by the Supreme Court because the case involved issues of public concern.

Since the High Court case was initiated, the road has been repaired to the satisfaction of the residents, at a cost of £165,000. Previously, the council had made an order that if the residents provided 15 per cent of the cost, estimated at the time at £21,000, it would pay the balance.

Welcoming the Supreme Court decision last night, county engineer Mr John Tiernan said that while he was not proud of the condition of minor roads, real progress was made since then thanks to an increase in funding from the Exchequer. The overall situation in Cavan was much improved from the appalling situation that had previously existed.

He admitted there were still people in Cavan suffering because of the state of their roads but he expects that the situation will be substantially redressed by the time the Department of the Environment's 10-year programme ends in six years' time.

However, local Fine Gael councillor Mr Peter McVitty said that while big improvements had been made to Cavan's main roads, residents on minor roads were still being asked for voluntary contributions when they requested repairs. Residents will have to wait until Tuesday to find out who will bear the costs of the High Court and Supreme Court cases, which could amount to a six-figure sum.