Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was taken aback for a moment when the Minister for Transport indicated that the new speed limits were broadly welcomed. It reinforced for me the fact that he is a Minister from Dublin and is not really in touch with many people from rural communities.

In my constituency the overwhelming response has been one of bewilderment. It is not that people are opposed to the reduction in the speed limits per se, but many people have pointed to roads that are in an absolutely atrocious state due to potholes. Despite this, the local authority is not out fixing the roads and improving road conditions but putting up new signage. Everybody knows the two key areas to improve road safety are enforcement and road conditions. Unfortunately, the previous Government, due to a lack of any type of vision or ambition, was unwilling to do anything in respect of either enforcement or road conditions, so it came up with this arbitrary change to speed limits across the board.

That points to a particular problem the Government has. Right across counties Monaghan and Cavan, for example, many local roads that are in an atrocious condition, but there are also major road projects that are included in development plans and in key strategic policies of the Government that were essentially put on hold for the past five years. I am referring especially to the N2 road that goes through County Monaghan to link with the A5 in the North to improve connectivity to the north west. Despite the fact the Government has committed, quite rightly, to financially supporting the A5 project, it has essentially cost taxpayers substantial amounts of money by stalling the N2 road project, which is comprised of the Clontibret to the Border road scheme and the Ardee to Castleblayney road scheme. Both are pivotal to improving road safety and that point is acknowledged by the Government. However, the Government, as I said, stalled it. We know that because TII told us the reason the scheme was stalled was due to limited funding being available. In one freedom of information response I received TII referred to the project as suspended due to funding constraints.

The problem the Government has is that for the past five years, it had Eamon Ryan as a mudguard. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been able to say the reason local roads have been in such a bad state and that key national infrastructural roads have been stalled was Eamon Ryan and the Green Party. Eamon Ryan and the Green Party got their answer from the electorate but now Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have nowhere else to hide. I hope, therefore, that in his closing remarks the Minister of State will indicate that there will be a substantial increase in funding for local road networks and for major projects such as the N2 and that the money will be made available quickly so we can do something meaningful to address road safety.

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