Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Taoiseach to comment on reports emanating from County Hall and Cork County Council that the roads budget for this year will be slashed by €33 million. It is very serious if this is the case. In west Cork, local and regional roads are crumbling. They are under pressure because Cork County Council remains at the very bottom of the league table of road funding allocations. It also has the lowest average allocation of funding per kilometre for regional and local roads. It is really important that we clarify that. Is the current funding for national roads or for local roads? I would prefer if we did not refer to the recent opening of the Dunkettle Interchange and the Macroom bypass because they do not benefit the people in west Cork who are dealing with really substandard local roads. We do not have bus services or other public transport there. People rely on cars to get around and therefore they rely on a decent standard of road. It is really important that it be clarified whether the budget will be cut by €33 million.

See this speech in context