Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The amendment proposes to give primacy to tertiary roads in the context of extra revenue generated by the increases in motor tax set out in the Bill. I cannot accept it as to give statutory priority to a particular class of road such as tertiary roads would set a most unwelcome and inflexible precedent. Senator Tuffy, supported by Senator Bannon, is saying the €65 million should be spent on tertiary roads at the expense of regional and county roads. That is what is being suggested, although I am not suggesting for one moment that tertiary roads are unimportant. If this was to happen, perhaps Senators could indicate how local authorities would decide which roads would miss out on funding. It might be the popular thing to say but it would not be a realistic or practical thing to do.

The non-national road effort is based on a holistic approach which is bringing about quantifiable improvement to the network. It is important to set the context by providing a breakdown of what is involved. Of the 87,150 km of non-national roads in county council areas, there are in excess of 11,000 km of regional roads, 23,600 km of local primary roads, 32,000 km of local secondary roads, and 20,000 km of local tertiary roads. The proposed amendment seeks to give absolute priority to the latter category which accounts for only 23% of the non-national road network.