Regional and local roads budget slashed by 32%

Funding for regional and local roads in Offaly has been slashed by almost a third or €3.1 million, as part of the cash-strapped Government cutbacks. Offaly County Council received €11.351 million in funding allocated under the Regional and Local Roads Programme 2009 in February, only for it to be cut by the Government as part of last week"s supplementary Budget. The official notification of the revised road grant allocations throughout the county is only filtering down to councillors this week, who are shocked and angry by the news. There is yet to be a full confirmation as to what grants are being cut and how the remaining money will be re-allocated. The Edenderry footpaths programme is cut to €144,000. The Local Roads Improvement Scheme is slashed to nothing. The restoration improvement grant has been cut by 32%, down from €5.3 million to €3.6 million. The discretionary improvement grant is cut by 50% and the regional signposts allocation is down 38% while the Special Improvements Grant is cut by almost one million euro. It is not yet known if the €960,000 allocated to the Edenderry Inner Relief Road, which is also due to go ahead this year, is affected or not. Funding for local and regional roads in the Ferbane Electoral Area has been cut by €800,000 according to Fine Gael Councillor Connie Hanniffy. 'I"m deeply and gravely disappointed and disgusted, it"s very bad planning by the Department,' said Cllr Hanniffy. 'It was a waste of time putting together the allocations and prioritising it in the April budget. A lot of local and regional roads need this maintenance. Where do we go from here? It"s a disaster for us really.' Tullamore Councillor Tommy McKeigue accused the Department of Transport of trying to slip through the announcement during the quiet Easter period when the Dáil doesn"t sit. 'This throws the whole works for the Council in disarray,' said Cllr McKeigue. 'It"s unprecedented what"s happened, not only will construction be down in the county but jobs will be affected in the whole Midlands area. It"s very, very disappointing for the councillors who already announced to people where the money will be spent.' He added that if the Council needs to re-allocate the funds throughout the county, this will probably not be carried out until after the local elections in June, so that the newly-elected Council can take responsibility for the roads spending programme. Under the funding announcement made by Minister Noel Dempsey, Birr Town Council and Tullamore Town Council each received €287,000 respectively as well as the County Council receiving the €11.351 million.