Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. The question concerns getting more money, but it is not easy to obtain. Last Saturday, I visited Kerry, which is the last of the counties I have visited over the past three months. The last time I was there was in 1991. People all over the country are saying that they will spend their holidays at home this year, given the value offered by hotels. In addition, improved roads to Galway, Cork, Limerick, the south east and Belfast now have shorter journey times. One can nearly do such journeys in half the time due to the fantastic road network. However, money needs to be invested in a lot of smaller county roads where holidaymakers go. Many accidents take place on these roads.

We have had a good month or six weeks of repair and much work has been done in county councils around the country. Is there anything more that can be done? We have a new Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport; I have no doubt she will do a great job and I wish her well in it. People will be spending holidays at home this year and we do not want to lose any lives because of potholes or bad upkeep of verges on the roads. Can €2 million or €3 million extra be given to each county to make sure our roads are safe, so that when people decide to holiday at home they will come back with only good memories?

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