Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I will be providing almost €412 million to the local authorities for their roads programme. I will also be giving them the flexibility to prioritise the roads that have been damaged. We will not stick to the normal 13 or 14 headings in the funding. Now that the local authorities have identified the roads that are damaged, we will ask them to prioritise and repair them. This could mean other works which might not have been in the pipeline immediately will be done this year. As this money is being allocated, I am asking the councils to address the concerns that have been expressed by Members of the House and their local public representatives to ensure that the roads which were damaged are repaired as quickly as possible. There is no bar on local authorities either outsourcing or hiring contractors to do the work. It must be addressed in the most effective and efficient manner. No doubt, they will have to get value for money during the summer months, in particular, but they will be given maximum flexibility in that regard.

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