A WAR of words has broken out between two prominent Cork TDs following the announcement of the latest round of government funding for the improvement and maintenance of roads across the county.

This week Transport Minister Noel Dempsey announced total funding of €36,314,420 for country roads, with the vast bulk of the money (€33.705.420) being set aside for the improvement of routes across Cork county. The remaining €2,609,000 will be spent on maintaining Cork's existing road network.

North Cork did particularly well in the latest round of funding, with almost €20 million being spent on the M8 route between Watergrasshill, Fermoy and Mitchelstown.

Other key allocations included €500,000 for the overlay of the road surface at Annakisha on the N73 Mitchelstown-Mallow Road, €500,000 for similar type works at Garrynoe on the N72 Fermoy-Mallow Road and €15,000 for ' bend warning' works on a dangerous stretch of the N72 road near Castletownroche.

The funding also included an allocation of €9,201,720 for the proposed M20 (Atlantic corridor) Cork – Limerick motorway which will be used to fund the compulsory purchase of land along the route.

Welcoming the funding, Cork East Fianna Fail TD Ned O'Keeffe said that it will ensure that a number of important projects across the county will be in a position to move forward to the next stage.

"I particularly welcome the money for the southern section of the Atlantic Corridor which relates specifically to the area between Mallow and Charleville. Work on the section of the N73 at Annakisha and on the N72 near Castletownroche is also long overdue," said Deputy O'Keeffe.

However, the amount of funding for Cork, particularly in relation to the maintenance allocation, has been slammed by Cork North Central TD Bernard Allen who described it as "derisory".

He pointed out that the maintenance grant for 2010 was €2,609,000 — a substantial reduction on the €3,505,429 figure for 2009.

"This funding is being dressed up by some Fianna Fail TDs as a good news story," fumed Deputy Allen.

"The truth is that this allocation is derisory and totally inadequate to meet the current unprecedented demands on Cork County Council to maintain a safe and efficient road network. This is more pertinent given the condition of the roads following the recent bad weather," he added.

Deputy Allen said that Minister Dempsey's reaction was to tell the authority to "get on with it" while at the same time stripping their maintenance budget.

"This amounts to the government washing its hands in the face of a major problem which will only get worse unless emergency funding is found from somewhere," he said.

Deputy O'Keeffe hit back at his Cork colleague, saying the allocation was fair in light of the cutbacks in spending forced on the government as a result of the recession.

"Over the years we have been quite generous with funding. The bottom line here is that Cork County Council will have to find money from its own resources," he said.

"To be honest I am surprised at Deputy Allen's comments coming at a time when Fine Gael claim they are working with the government to sort out the country's finances," he added.

- BILL BROWNE