Mr. Lorcan O'Connor:

Local authorities would be best placed to comment specifically on the state of their regional and local roads. Having had the opportunity to speak to a small number of local authorities since joining TII, I know they share the concern the Deputy has just articulated. When we look at our own 5,500 km network, there is certainly a build-up of work that ideally would have been undertaken on a steady state over the last number of years, but that has not been done. It is no different from repairing a small leak in a roof. The longer you leave it, the more expensive it is going to be to fix. It is important that we put in a programme that is fit for purpose for the coming years. Hopefully through the sectoral plan we will be able to start to put that in place, to catch up and to ensure that we maintain the asset at the appropriate level so that we do not have this issue again.