Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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Ba mhaith liom fáilte mhór a chur roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach inniu. Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis fosta mar go bhfuil a fhios agam go bhfuil a lán oibre á déanamh aige. I welcome the Minister to the House this morning. I thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to be here.

This morning I wish to discuss the issue of the funding of local roads, which are vitally important to everyday life in our communities. The local road network is as important to the people of rural Ireland as the M50 is to the city of Dublin. In County Monaghan and many other counties throughout the country, the quality of local roads is critical to the communities that use them on a daily basis. Again, however, I will give the examples of Monaghan and Cavan and small counties like them.Many small enterprises and businesses are located on boreens off small local and regional roads. They, like the communities who live on them, depend on a good quality roads network in order to get their goods to market and for the people who live in these communities to go about their daily lives.

The Minister is probably aware of a survey conducted by his Department before his time which discovered that the local roads infrastructure throughout the country was in need of substantial funding. Monaghan came across as the worst county in Ireland for its quality of local and regional roads infrastructure. That situation comes from the fact that over the last decade or so the local roads network has been chronically underfunded, which is an issue that needs to be addressed. I welcome the fact that this year the Department has increased its funding for local roads. It is very necessary and important that we get more such funding.

Unfortunately, this year many local authorities have the added burden of dealing with Covid-19 and the restrictions that it has placed on local authority work practices. As a result, many roads programmes have yet to commence. There is a fear among many local authorities, that they will not get their full allocation drawn down before the end of the year. The last thing that local authorities and local communities want is for local road allocations not to be drawn down because of the council's inability to get the works done because of Covid-19 restrictions.

I ask the Minister for two things. I am seeking a commitment that no local authority will lose the much needed funding required for local road repairs because of Covid-19 restrictions. I would like the Minister to issue guidance to local authorities that they are behind schedule with their roads programmes. Perhaps now with the evenings getting long, having longer daylight hours and coming into the summer months, local authorities would use that time wisely to catch up on the backlog of works needed because of Covid-19 restrictions. The last thing that communities and businesses want is to see roadworks taking place in the mouth of Christmas with queues of traffic going into towns. Certainly, after all that people have been through, the last thing that they want is to be stuck in traffic jams on the mouth of Christmas. The last thing that businesses want or need is for their potential customers to be caught in traffic on their way to do their shopping due to roadworks taking place that should have been done earlier in the year but through nobody's fault could not be done because of Covid-19 restrictions. I look forward to the Minister's response.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this very important Commencement matter.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded by the resources of councils and supplemented by regional and local road grants. Transport Infrastructure Ireland is responsible for the management of national roads in conjunction with local authorities. In addition, the National Transport Authority provides funding for sustainable transport measures and this year this funding is being extended to local authorities across the country.

As regards the main regional and local roads programmes funded by my Department, these programmes involve a mixture of direct labour work and contract work. Each eligible local authority is responsible for deciding its work programme and also for deciding the assignment of staff to undertake roadworks throughout the year. The costs involved are recouped to local authorities based on the work undertaken.

Under the public health guidance that is currently in place regarding Covid-19 restrictions, provision is made for certain essential services to continue. This includes the repair, maintenance and construction of critical road infrastructure. Local authorities have continued to carry out works considered essential on roads and appropriate operating procedures have been put in place to comply with Covid-19 public health guidance. In this context the nature of roadworks - outdoors and generally amenable to social distancing - facilitates compliance with public health guidance.

It is important to recognise that road maintenance activity is seasonal. While local authorities might carry out contract procurement and some preparatory work at this time of the year, the crucial period for delivery of the main regional and local roads maintenance programme is from April. This is when the road strengthening programme starts in earnest followed by surface dressing work from late May.While it is for each local authority to assess the position in its area, overall, essential maintenance works will need to be carried out to keep the road network in a serviceable condition, address safety issues and deliver road improvement schemes which incorporate measures to support active travel. It is envisaged that these essential work programmes will continue and intensify as the year progresses.

As the Senator is aware, the Government will also be providing updated public health guidelines before 5 April. Hopefully, that will allow a more general return to construction work, including road maintenance work, in the critical period ahead.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. I take it from his contribution that no local authority will lose funding this year because of an underspend, which is important, and that local authorities will have the flexibility to have this work done during the summer months when the weather is good. Local road infrastructure is vitally important to local communities throughout the length and breadth of this country.

While the Minister is here, I ask him to consider the will and voice of the people affected by the North-South interconnector, with a view to having an independent review carried out on the cost of delivering the project overground as opposed to underground. With the passage of time and advances in technology, it is vital that we do that. I ask the Minister to ensure a full, independent review takes place. The communities would be happy to abide by the results of any such independent review.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I might address the second issue the Senator raised on another occasion. The interconnector is critical infrastructure that is vital for the economy, North and South.

To return to the key issue we are addressing, we must recognise that the maintenance, development and improvement of local roads are critical to local economies. As the Senator said, we have to avoid the prospect of all the work being bookended to the end of the year when we will be facing into Christmas to ensure towns are not shuttered because roadworks are only able to take place then. I hope councils will be able to organise the business in the long days ahead of us in the spring and summer months. I am very supportive of investment in road programmes that restore and protect the centre of towns, improve the public realm and provide small bypasses and detours so that we adopt one of the key economic and social programmes for this Government, namely, putting town centres first, in County Monaghan and elsewhere in the country.