Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their presentation. It is difficult to see how we are going to maintain high standards in view of the cuts that have been imposed and the fact that funding has almost been halved since 2007. In the context of the €50 million provided by the Minister recently, will our guests outline how this money will be prioritised?

I had already heard about the rating system to which Mr. McLaughlin referred. How are roads on which many potholes can be found rated? The committee received a presentation from residents in County Meath who maintain that there are more potholes in their area than in any other locality throughout the country. I do not know if that is true but they certainly made a very strong case about the number of potholes in their area.

Some local authorities can raise funds more easily than others. The road structures in Donegal are much longer and its local authority would not have the same resources as a local authority in another county. How does the mechanism for getting the funding work? Does the authority have to make a special case for extra funding because of the road networks? I mention Donegal for a reason. The north west has a high percentage of accidents in general, and Donegal and Tyrone appear to have a much higher accident rate. In terms of the linkages, the north west has not had the same motorway provision as other regions but has that had a major effect? Ordinary local roads are used more in Donegal. It does not have the main carriageway. What is the witnesses' opinion of the size of the problem that is causing?

Regarding the maintenance of roads, in Waterford, Dublin city and such areas there are issues with ramps. I am aware special funding was given to Dublin City Council to deal with ramps not of a proper standard that literally disintegrated in the recent severe winters. Have the witnesses experienced that in their areas?

The local authority contribution has been reducing, and the contribution from the witnesses' organisation has been reducing also. They will get certain powers to raise money under the property tax measure. Will that help them in future in terms of meeting some of the road improvement targets in their areas?

What unforeseen problems do the witnesses envisage arising? We cannot predict weather in the future but do we have a reserve to deal with problems? We have had to have stockpiles of salt and so on in the past. Do the witnesses have a contingency plan to deal with that?