Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and acknowledge he has been consistently making the case for more investment in road infrastructure, and not just new infrastructure but maintenance of our local and regional road networks. As he knows, there have been underspends in a number of Departments in recent years. We have engaged with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, on the opportunity presented over the summer months for additional maintenance and restoration work to be done on our road network around the country. The Department is actively examining that issue and we hope there will be some positive word on that shortly. I acknowledge the Deputy's overall point on the need for continued investment. We are in a good position in terms of running budget surpluses. Looking over the next number of years, we need to make the most of the opportunity we have to make the finances safer for the future so we can avoid decisions that would otherwise need to be made in the coming years. There may well still be difficult decisions, but we must balance that with what more we can do in the short to medium term to improve infrastructure all over Ireland.

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