Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with much of what has been said. There has been a huge number of deaths on the roads and our thoughts go out to all those people. I know the Minister of State was in Dundalk recently and we spoke about the issue of the Avenue Road roundabout, which was at least addressed. I, along with Shannon McCann and many others, have raised the issue of the intersection at Sexton’s, which the Minister of State visited. It is a vital piece of infrastructure in an area that is very built up when compared to what it was previously.

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It is something that needs to be addressed. A huge number of projects are in limbo, whether we are talking about the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney road scheme, which has been brought up to me by Councillor Pearse McGeough multiple times or the N53, particularly that part of it from Hackballscross to Sheelagh right to the Border to Concession Road. It really needs to be upgraded. Mr. Jimmy Myers would not forgive me if I did not bring it up.

I spoke to the Minister of State previously about the damage that is being done in the Cooley area with regard to flooding. There was a request by Louth County Council for €1.6 million. The figure that was given is €1 million. I have worked with Ms Fiona Mhic Conchoille and for a long time with Councillor Antóin Watters on this. We were out in Ballymakellett lately. There is still a huge body of work to do. We have huge legacy issues with the state of the roads across the board. I am hearing about potholes in areas where people never spoke about them as an issue in the local elections. That is before we start talking about a particular issue I will bring to the attention of the Minister of State as regards Mullatee and then school safety. We need a process in councils on how we introduce road traffic calming because there is no system whatsoever at this point.

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