Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the reply. There are roads the length and breadth of the country that are in a serious state of disrepair. There is no city, town or village that is not impacted. Due to years of neglect by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments, road users in every corner of the State feel abandoned.

It is especially true in rural Ireland where it must be remembered that 70% of road collisions occur. Instead of getting to grips with this situation, what we have heard recently is kite flying, whether it is in the implementation of the new speed limits without any ability to enforce them or announcing new road investments that are not really that new at all. The only new part of that €713 million investment recently announced is money that the Department failed to spend last year to the tune of €115 million. The story was the same in 2023 and 2022 when there was a capital carry-over of €140 million and €160 million, respectively. It is all well and good grandstanding about increased investment but there must be a plan to deal with it because it is not just money that is needed. We need a plan and a roadmap for delivery. Take my constituency of Kerry, where the LIS list has 625 roads on the priority list. As the council gets to about 20 roads per year, it would take about 30 years to complete that. What measures is the Minister taking to ensure the Department does not have a capital carry-over? What measures is the Department taking to speed up road maintenance under the LIS scheme?

See this speech in context