Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. As his is a neighbouring constituency, he will understand where I am coming from on this matter. For the information of the House, the local improvement scheme, LIS, is where the State, through the councils, provides a certain amount of money to upgrade our roads. Local households also contribute. This usually involves a cluster of houses and farm entrances where, in many cases, people are elderly and there are young children and people with disabilities. In County Clare where I live, 146 applications have been approved for funding but are awaiting funding under the LIS. Many such applications have now been waiting for many years. During that period, the quality of the roads has continued to deteriorate. On some of the roads, there are potholes you could nearly fit into, if you climbed into them. People are constantly filling them to try to do immediate repairs until such time as the LIS funding comes through and the road is done on a professional basis by the council.

In 2020, Clare County Council received an allocation of €826,000, which completed 20 roads. In 2021, it got an allocation of €1.229 million, which completed 25 roads, and in 2023 it got an allocation of €1.368 million, which completed 22 roads. If all of the roads were to be funded and completed, we would be looking at a cost of €9 million. A figure of €1.36 million is a long way from €9 million. These roads continue to deteriorate. In the past three years in my constituency, 65 roads have been done, with 146 on the approved list, and the council is awaiting additional information on a further 20. What is even more concerning is these roads are all concentrated in the west Clare municipal district, which extends from Ballyvaughan to Loop Head and Kilrush. In that particular area of County Clare, right along the Wild Atlantic Way and the N67 stretch, probably well over 100 roads service some 1,000 individuals, and certainly hundreds of homes. Those roads are in an appalling state and people's cars are being destroyed and damaged on a regular basis. In one scenario brought to my attention recently, a car was written off. People could potentially be hurt when they are out for a walk. It is not acceptable.

The allocation for 2024 needs to be announced straightaway and there needs to be an additional, once-off, significant increase in funding. I am sure the constituency of the Acting Chair and other constituencies are in the same situation, but it is particularly bad in Clare because of the weather conditions, proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and so on. We need a plan that includes a lot more than €1.36 million. I am looking for €4 million or €4.5 million over a two-year period so that Clare County Council can clear the waiting list and people can get the roads they deserve as citizens and taxpayers.