Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Our vast and interconnected road network is essential to connecting people, businesses and communities, so we must continue to protect it. We have come a long way. When I was elected in 1999, the road network was particularly bad. I remember travelling on one national road and changing my tires every three months. We are in a much better place but the Senator is right that more needs to be done. She raised the increase in the price of bitumen, which went up by 62%. This has to be factored in. That is what this is about. That is what local authorities are about. They feed into the Department and the Department feeds into the Exchequer. When the economy is robust, there is money to spend. I believe that more funding should be allocated for local and regional roads. It is something I will be fighting for as well. I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. There is more traffic on the roads. They are a lot safer than they were but we need to do more.