Investment to lessen regional divide

Investment in roads, public transport and broadband communications announced by the Minister for Finance yesterday is aimed at lessening the divide between the regions, in line with the National Development Plan.

At £620 million, the provision for national roads is up by £210 million on last year, an increase of more than 50 per cent. An additional £40 million has been provided for maintenance of national roads, again up almost 50 per cent on last year.

This investment is part of the road-building programme set out in the National Development Plan. The significant increases in provision reflect the urgency the Government puts on developing a motorway network linking the State's major cities.

The allocation also includes provision for construction work on the Dublin Port Tunnel.

On public transport, £102 million has been allocated to the Rail Safety Programme which includes spending on track renewal, signalling and safety management systems, £100 million for work on Luas, and £79 million for new bus and rail services in the regions including Dublin.

In all, the provision for public transport investment is £441 million, which amounts to 86 per cent of the total budget for the Department of Public Enterprise.

The Government subvention to CIE is to increase from £115 million this year to £159 million in 2001, an increase of 38 per cent.

A sum of £20 million has been provided for the roll-out of broadband communications. This is aimed at bringing high-technology access to the remoter regions. The Government hopes the money will leverage many times that amount in private sector finance.

Increases have also been made in the allocation for the regional airports, up 21 per cent on 2000 to £3.6 million. The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said she was "very pleased indeed" with the estimate for her Department. Highlighting the increases in public transport and communications, she said the increases "more than fulfil our needs".

Included in the Estimate for the Department of the Environment was £346 million for water services, an increase of £56 million on 2000. The money is aimed at making additional serviced land available for residential, commercial and industrial development, as well as protecting water quality in lakes and rivers.

A sum of £320 million is to be provided by the Department to local authorities as the Local Government Fund 2001, an increase of £35 million on 2000. This fund is to be augmented by motor-tax receipts of about £390 million, bringing the total fund to about £710 million.

More than £690 million is being provided for local authority and social housing, according to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey.

The provision represents a £250 million increase on 2000. He said it amounted to "the better part" of £2 million for every working day in the coming year. However, Minister of State Mr Bobby Molloy last night put the total figure for housing at £1.1 billion, which he said was a trebling of resources for housing under the current Government.

The difference in the figures apparently stems from the inclusion by Mr Molloy of increased funding for the regeneration of the State's existing housing stock.