Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas Ceann-Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue tonight. It is raining cats and dogs and we had huge rainfall Sunday night of last week in many parts of the country, including in south Tipperary. Thurles town was badly affected as were Cahir, Cashel and Tipperary town. It was unprecedented rainfall. I must mention the lack of maintenance of our roads with the cuts to personnel. I have to single out Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the National Roads Association, NRA, before it. They developed fine motorways through Tipperary. We see TII regularly doing maintenance with road markings and hedge cutting. I am told by adjoining landowners it does not do any maintenance on the drainage. I am speaking about the drainage that is sometimes cut out or sometimes a road is high. The roads were cut through land and through rivers and streams. I pointed out at the time that in many cases a number of small culverts were put in place rather than one eye of a bridge. They are all getting blocked with debris from forestry and everything else. It is natural debris. There is damage being done to people's homes and properties. I know of part of a farm that was washed away by a torrent coming down from the Galtee Mountains in the parish of Ballylooby. We must have respect for land owners and property owners.

The cost of projects this year has gone spiralling upwards in the council. Its maintenance budget is exhausted much earlier than in any other year because of the increased cost. The cost of projects has massively increased because of the cost of fuel and oil-based products, including bitumen and tar. Tipperary County Council is in a perilous situation because it has exhausted most of its road and maintenance budget. Now it is faced with a bill of up to €500,000. I understand from the director of services, through my daughter, Councillor Máirín McGrath, that a letter will be arriving in the Department imminently from James Swords, the senior engineer, and Paul Farrell who is also an engineer. It will state this amount of money will be needed to repair the damage that has been done.

The big problem is a lack of maintenance and lack of accountability. The motorway was developed with compulsory purchase orders and we avail of it. A project cannot be built and then walked away from. We must go to the upper echelons of it and check the drainage and maintain it. It is not just the motorway. We have to have access in terms of fencing to prevent animals going on to it. It is a serious situation. The funding bill will be sent in. Unsuspecting motorists drive on the motorway with torrents of rain crossing it because of the lack of drainage. It is an extremely dangerous situation. Many people have been seriously injured and worse on the motorway. It is the same with the motorway to Limerick at Portlaoise.

We have spent money on the motorways but we must maintain the curtilage and the percolation and drainage areas around them. Above all we must protect life and limb. We must also protect the property of farmers, householders and farmyards. Above all we must protect households. The council staff and the general services supervisor went out. As I said here one day, one of them, Walter Doheny, suffered a minor heart attack while on duty at night. He has recovered. I spoke to him on Sunday and thanks be to God he is fine. Council workers go out to try to sort it out as do fire brigades. We should not be putting these people in this type of danger. We need proper maintenance and proper service of the projects to take place.

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