Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader invite the relevant Minister or Ministers to the House to address an issue that is close to the hearts of people from rural Ireland, the cuts in funding for regional local roads? Thankfully, in recent years, a great deal of money has been spent on the surfacing of regional local roads and they were brought up to a satisfactory standard. Unfortunately, however, in recent times funding has been cut dramatically, so much so that the road network is crumbling under our feet or our cars' tyres. We talk about looking after and protecting rural Ireland, but one of the most important aspects of that is providing access to rural areas. I ask the Leader to invite the relevant Minister to the House to address that issue. When the Minister is here we could also discuss the reinstatement of funding for local improvement schemes. These were for private lanes, where people lived on country boreens. Until recently, there was funding available and specifically ring-fenced for their maintenance and upkeep. That funding was cut a number of years ago to such an extent that the network of such roads is also crumbling. The issue is particularly relevant to rural Ireland and I ask that the Minister come to the House to address it.