Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

According to the PAC report, funding overall for roads is €27 million lower than it was in 2008. According to the TII, there is a deficit of upwards of €100 million per year for roads maintenance and it reckons only 30 km of the 400 km motorway network is maintained on an annual basis. The officials stated the continued underfunding will have a significant cost long term. When did the TII first become aware of the cut in this year's funding? What was its initial reaction? Did officials speak with the Minister about the effects that would have? More important, what was his reaction to that? Did he give a rationale for the €6 million cut? It will affect every local authority. Louth County Council, for example, expects a 30% cut in its funding and an 18% reduction in the number of road projects. Those figures are shocking. When TII received word that its funding would be cut further, did officials speak with the Minister and relay their fears about the detrimental effects that would have on our roads infrastructure, both short term and long term? What was his reaction? I read somewhere that funding for motorways was to be maintained at the same level. What percentage do PPP partners and toll operators pay towards roads maintenance in comparison to TII and the Government?

I refer to the difference in the quality of materials used. For example, I rarely encounter a pothole on the motorway but when I travel on a regional or local road, the potholes are almost like craters even where they were filled in three months previously. Are local authorities so starved of funding that they have to source inferior products for resurfacing? Do the officials know anything about that?

On the specific improvement grants, at the moment we have the safety improvement grants which are a pittance when it comes to road safety measures for junctions etc. Was it TII's decision to scrap the specific improvement grants or was it the Department's? Has TII made representations to have the specific improvement grants reinstated? Many road safety issues around the country are not being addressed because of the absence of those grants.

I know the Minister is well aware of the opposition to the slip-road tolls in Drogheda; it is the only town in Ireland where people are taxed to drive from one side of the town to the other. I know he has been in contact with TII. Any progress on removing the slip-road tolls is painfully slow. I raised the issue with the Minister and I am raising it with the representatives of TII today. Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2018 will take place in Drogheda. We do not want it to turn into an unmitigated disaster because we are going to tax tens of thousands of visitors in Drogheda to drive from one side of the town to the other. I have requested the Minister - I am sure he has contacted TII - to remove the slip-road tolls for the duration of the fleadh, just as an interim measure because it will have a detrimental effect on Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2018 and it will have a detrimental effect on Drogheda ever having a second run at the fleadh. I sincerely hope that TII will leave no stone unturned and ensure this happens for the duration of the fleadh.