Dáil debates
Thursday, 29 February 2024
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Road Projects
4:20 pm
David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, for being here and for actually waiting until he himself is present. I know the Minister of State visited east Cork and I thank him for coming down. He saw at least some of the damage done to some of the roads in the area, which was absolutely horrific.
I understand Cork County Council submitted an estimate of the damage which was something in the region of between €50 million and €60 million. In his response, the Minister of State might like to confirm what request the council has actually sent in to the Department of Transport over and above what the council normally gets for its annual road allocation. I have seen some of these roads and their state is absolutely diabolical. Some of the worst roads need attention. The council is doing its best but I understand it looked for between €50 million and €60 million and received €13 million. The request really is if that the Minister of State could double that this year, the council might at least be able to make some impression on the work that needs to be done on the roads. One can imagine driving along a road in your car and the road is just not there any more. It is destroyed.
Storm Babet, some people said, was a once in 1,000 years event. Recently, more people have said it was a once in 100 years event. There is a fear that it might happen again. There is also a fear that if these roads are not repaired, the normal wear and tear that occurs anyway will make them even worse than they are. I am getting calls every day, and I know my colleague, Deputy James O'Connor, is also concerned about this. We both are. I am getting calls every day from people who want to meet me and who want to know what we are doing about this and how these roads can be repaired. The Taoiseach told me last week that in Donegal, there was a special allocation made over and above when the estimate that went in. I want to know if the Department of Transport had made an application to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform looking for a special allocation over and above and if so, what reaction did it get? That is why it is so important to have the Minister of State from the Department here this evening, and I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, will have the answers to these questions. Other Ministers who come in may not have them but I am confident the Minister of State here present will have them.
What I am looking for is, first, how much did the council look for from the Department? How much did the Department give initially over and above the usual allocation? Has the Department gone to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform looking for further funding, as the Taoiseach last week suggested would happen? If not, when will the Department do this? Will it go to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform requesting extra money? I would be very happy to support the Minister for Transport and the Minister of State in the Department in that quest for extra funding for east Cork, and I am sure my colleagues will as well.
As I said, my concern is that these roads are very bad at the moment and that if they are not repaired and brought up to a proper standard, they will only deteriorate in the weeks, months and maybe a year ahead, before we see it happening again next year. The council officials are very concerned about it. They want to get on with it but they cannot. We are all getting it in the neck from constituents, as the Minister of State can understand.
The other thing I would like to see happening is that when these roads are restored and brought up to a standard, that they would be brought up to a proper standard, that the drainage would be looked after, and that if we have another event like what we just had, there would be some chance of the water flowing away at the sides of the road, and not tearing the roads up as has happened. I hope that this event will not occur for a long time again. I do not want to see it in my lifetime but looking at reports today, eminent scientists are saying that we can expect this quite often.
4:30 pm
Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this important issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this topic with members of the House. I understand that the Deputy’s question is in relation to the provision funding to Cork County Council for emergency repairs on roads and bridges following Storm Babet in October with an emphasis on the east Cork region. As the Deputy said, I was in Cork myself in the days following this, and I am aware of the destruction that was caused in so many areas of the county. We have been in regular contact with the Deputy and representatives - and they have with us - since then, and I know it is an issue that continues to impact on the community there.
As the Deputy is aware, Ireland experienced several severe weather events this winter. Heavy rainfall associated with these events led to widespread flooding in certain areas, particularly in the south of the country. That has caused significant damage to parts of the national, regional and local road networks. It is important to set out the process when there are events such as this.
First, it takes time to assess the full impact of a storm event on the road network. Initial clean-up activities are prioritised and following that there are damage assessments. An assessment of the full extent of the damage following Storm Babet in Cork is still being finalised with surveys on impacted bridge infrastructure ongoing. This year, in addition to an allocation at the end of 2024, my Department committed to allocating funds for the repair and rehabilitation of the road network as part of the 2024 regional and local grant allocations, which were released on Thursday, 15 February. Some €22.5 million has been made available to assist in the repair of the significant damage to the regional and local road network, with Cork County Council allocated €13 million to conduct repair works following the impacts of severe weather events.
The Department, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Cork County Council are also working closely together to assess the damage, and therefore to plan appropriate remedial action and finally determine the estimated costs of repair. This process is ongoing. I fully appreciate that the restoration of the road network is essential from a safety perspective as well as maintaining key social, community and economic connections. We are all aware of the severity of this storm. We are also conscious that significant action is required to restore our critical road infrastructure to active use. As I said, €13 million was allocated for these works in the county, and I want to assure the Deputy that we are committed to continuing to work with and assist Cork County Council in managing essential repair works, especially the opening of key roads and bridges, as well as investing in future-proofing our road networks to help reduce the probability of such damage reoccurring.
I met with the director of roads and transportation in Cork County Council last week, when I was down there. I am aware of the current concerns that have been expressed. If the €13 million that has been provided in 2024 is not sufficient, this allocation will, of course, have to be revisited, and the Department will be open to engaging on that. Due to the scale of the damage and the ongoing assessment that is occurring, it is also likely that there will have to be further significant allocations for 2025. It is about managing the budgetary process in the context of 2024, and then also profiling what will be required for 2025. As I said, on the work with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Cork County Council, there is still ongoing assessment occurring about the specific damage, what that will cost and when it can be remedied. We are actively engaged in that.
As the Deputy said, from what the Taoiseach has said to the Tánaiste and others across Government, when there is a severe weather event it is incumbent on Government to respond. That is why there has been this initial allocation, and we will work with Cork County Council to make sure that there is proper restoration of the road infrastructure in this instance.
David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his very positive response, and also for visiting the area around that time, as other Ministers did. That was really welcome. The Minister of State touched on a number of issues in his response. One is the issue of safety. If roads are in a very bad condition, and if they are crumbling, falling away or subsiding, safety is a huge issue. I ask the Minister of State to stress that when he is talking to people in his Department about this. He also mentioned the economic and social issues. Obviously, people have to make a living. They have to go to work, school or go about their business. If the road is in rag order and their car gets damaged or destroyed beyond use, then that causes its own problems.
Bridges are another issue. There are some private bridges there that are damaged very badly but also public bridges, and they are unsafe. They need to be addressed as well.
I asked the Minister of State whether Cork County Council had, at this stage, put in an estimate. I understand that it has put in an estimate, that it has asked for a certain amount of money, and that the actual estimated works are finished. It has actually looked for something in the region of €15 million or €16 million. I understand that the estimated cost of repairs has been determined at this stage. I cannot understand, four months on, why the Department is still waiting and looking at this.
Can the Minister of State let me know later on - and he might check it out himself if he has not been told - whether the council asked for a specific amount of money from the Department to repair the roads? I understand it is between €15 million and €16 million. Also, I agree with what the Minister of State said with regard to next year, 2025. Such is the scale of the damage, that this is going to go on for a number of years. The council cannot do it all in one year. If it got all the money this year it could not spend it because it does not have the manpower or resources to do it. However, it does need more than it got, or at least double of what it got - at least that, if not more - to try to bring the place back up to standard. If we do not, it is going to get worse than what it is, and the place will come to a standstill. Lives could be at risk as well, which is of paramount importance.
I thank the Minister of State for his positive response, and I encourage him to continue, as I know he will, fighting for this extra allocation so we can get the roads back up and running to a high standard.
Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I absolutely agree with the Deputy. There is a key safety component to this, in addition to the wider issues around the social, economic and community infrastructure. We appreciate the Deputy raising this, and the Government is fully committed to restoring our road networks after the impact of this storm. The vast interconnected network is used by cars, buses, trucks, vans and cyclists, and is essential for connecting people, businesses and communities.
We know that the road network suffers deterioration due to severe weather and climate effects. This damage can be caused by excessive rainfall, fluctuating temperatures, erosion of embankments and retaining structures due to tidal and river flow and severe weather events. In some instances the damage can be significant, resulting in the infrastructure becoming impassable, as the Deputy has mentioned, until it can be repaired and reopened. It can impact on strategic lifeline roads serving hospitals, schools and population centres, with very few or no alternative routes.
For this reason, my Department, along with TII and other local authorities, is continuing to work towards enhancing the resilience of the road network in these rapidly-changing conditions and with severe weather events. Under the relevant roads programme, the Government is committed to the protection and renewal of the country's roads, with funding each year being provided to support important work in areas such as strengthening works, bridge rehabilitation, safety measures and draining works. That is why the national roads grants programme included approximately €56 million in Exchequer funding for Cork County Council.
The regional local grants programme has displayed our commitment to restore our critical infrastructure. Cork County Council has been allocated €13 million of the €22 million under this, specifically. There is ongoing engagement with TII on the national roads and their repair and on the local and regional network in the context of what the Deputy outlined with Cork County Council. There will be ongoing engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on these matters.