State may seek costs of road decay from EU

IRELAND MAY seek funds from the EU rural development fund to repair an estimated €1 billion worth of damage to rural roads from recent snow and floods.

Many roads across the country are still closed or are badly damaged, causing considerable difficulty to rural dwellers and especially to farmers, who need access to their lands and animals, and hazards to motorists.

As county councils are preparing a list of costs to repair the damage, the Department of Transport and the Association of County and City Councils met in Tullamore, Co Offaly, yesterday to assess the damage across the country.

Michael Fitzgerald, chairman of the group, said that earlier estimates that the problems could be resolved by €150 million had now “gone out the window”.

He said that having heard reports from councillors from across the State, he believed it would take €1 billion to put the damaged roads back into order.

“We heard of major damage to roads up in the west and northwest and even in Offaly, which did not get the brunt of the snow and frost storms,” he said.

“I am now more inclined to believe the figure put on the repair bill of €1 billion, which was put forward by Jim Power of Friends First earlier this week.”

The Tipperary-based councillor said the association had agreed to ask the Government to seek funds from the EU’s rural development fund which provides funding for infrastructure in rural areas.

The Irish Farmers Association, which has been seeking to have priority given to rural road repairs, has conducted its own survey and has expressed concern at the lack of urgency from councils to address the problem.

The IFA said in the southeast, access to villages such as Craanford in north Wexford is restricted to locals only, while some roads leading to Woodenbridge, Co Wicklow, and Carnew, Co Wexford, are completely closed.

It gave a list of roads requiring urgent repair, including: Carlow: Ballyredmond, Clonegal village, Raheenleigh – Kilbranish (Myshall), Kilmacart, Hacketstown and Redbog Road (Clonmore), while there was local access only to Corridwood Gap (Mount Leinster).

In Kilkenny it listed Rahora Road and in Waterford it highlighted Kilbrien Upper, Ballynicole, Ballindysert, Ballnafine and Guilcough Cross to Laharden.

In Offaly, the IFA added, Mountmellick to Garryhinch-Portarlington Cross, Bracknagh to Clonballogue, Church Road, Daingean and Kinnitty to Mountrath, had all been damaged.

In Galway, the council heard it would take at least €30 million to fix the damage caused from Ballymoe to Clifden on the 6,250 km of roads there.

Reports said the area around Dunmore was hardest hit.

Cork County Council has already decided to spend €6 million over the next six weeks to repair damage mainly in north Cork and on the Cork-Tralee road.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said it was receiving damage reports from councils and would announce its allocation for non-national roads for 2010 in about three weeks.