Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

There is an unbelievable crisis throughout the country - County Wexford is no different from anywhere else - with regard to the state of the road network, a matter to which many Members referred yesterday. Following his contribution at yesterday's meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Dempsey, has lined himself up to become identified as the Minister for potholes. He clearly stated there was no money for local authorities to repair roads. If we do not repair them now, they will deteriorate further in the coming months. We must deal with this problem as a matter of urgency. If the Minister for potholes cannot do anything, the Taoiseach should be invited to come before the House to explain why the Government cannot make emergency funding available to local authorities in order that they might repair the roads. If repairs are not carried out, certain roads will deteriorate to an unbelievable degree in the next few months and will eventually be closed. Billions of euro have been provided for the banks because it has been stated the finance system is so important. However, the country's infrastructure is equally important. The Leader should invite the Taoiseach to come before the House to indicate why funding has not been made available for urgent repairs to roads throughout the country.