Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid it is a reality in which we are now working. I remind the Deputy that public funding for Ireland's national roads fell significantly during the recession. From a peak of €1.75 billion in 2007, capital and current expenditure on national roads reduced to €433 million in 2015. The start of year capital and current expenditure allocation for 2016 is €402 million. The steep decline in expenditure on roads during that period spans several Administrations and several years. It is inevitable at this stage that we are in a situation which is critical, admittedly, in certain places but it is not just the result of spendthrift or generous spending on roads at certain times in the past decade, it is also the result of the fact that as the Deputy is aware, we have an extraordinarily high number of roads, 100,000 km, which is amazing and is way above the EU average. The roads present a burden not just in terms of maintenance but also in terms of capital expenditure, which is not endured by any other nation in Europe.

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