Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Department's capital profile was to have seen 25% of the money spent in the first five months of the year. That is just over 40% of the year. However, the Department underspent by €158 million in that period, or 30% against profile. As such, the Department already has a significant underspend. That is clear from the Exchequer returns to the end of May.

I like what the Department is doing in the towns and cities. It is great, but there is a world beyond them that is being neglected. In the past ten years, not one euro from the Department has gone to non-county roads and there has been an underspend to meet the needs of county regional, secondary and tertiary roads. Will the Minister consider giving money from the local improvement scheme, LIS, to non-county roads, something that his Department has not done for ten years? Will he also consider increasing funding for county roads this year to deal with immediate problems?

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