Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his officials for the introduction. That this additional funding was made available is welcome. We make cutbacks in our budgets and then come back for more funding and make it appear as though a huge amount has been added. The reality is that there have been cutbacks in the roads budget. I would like a breakdown of the €50 million in terms of repair and renewal of road surfaces and whether it includes the repair of potholes. I know it is for local authorities to decide how they spend the money. Fair play is important in terms of how local authorities get their funding. I noticed in his statement that the Minister said that councils who have a good record of investing resources in road maintenance will get preference in terms of a top-up. That is not the message I would like to send out. I believe funding should be allocated on merit. If a local authority is not using its funding properly it should not be penalised on the basis of a reduction in funding. That would lead one to say that, perhaps, Meath County Council is not doing its job properly in terms of the repair of potholes. We have all met those people. That would mean that local authority might be penalised because it has not done a good job.

Has the Minister consulted with the European Investment Bank on the possibility of providing funding for road improvements in a similar manner to that which has been confirmed for the Luas Cross City? I recognise these are capital projects - we need more capital projects - and we are limited from a funding point of view but there may be other avenues in terms of exploring revenue. Will the Minister explain what represents technological improvements leading to greater reliability and cost-effective service provision, which has resulted in savings? Has the Minister plans to measure the benefits of the HGV toll-free month in order to determine its overall effectiveness for supporting jobs and industry? Who will get the €1 million? Is it the private toll operators and, if so, how it is calculated? Only a certain number of motorways are being targeted. How is the effectiveness of the trial to be gauged?