Fianna Fáil has called on the Transport Minister to review the funding for road maintenance next year, after the Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) wrote to local authorities warning them that the Ordinary Maintenance Allocation for roads will fall by 30% in 2018.
The party's spokesperson on Transport, Tourism and Sport, Robert Troy TD, said the overall national road current expenditure budget for 2018 is set to drop by 15% compared to 2017.
Mr Troy urged Minister Shane Ross to review the issue as a "matter of urgency".
He said: "I raised this issue with Minister Ross at the Oireachtas Transport Committee and he said he wasn't even aware of the cutbacks and would have to get back to me on it with further information. It's an astonishing situation.
"TII has acknowledged the significant impact that the scale of the reduction in Ordinary Maintenance Allocation will have on the delivery of services. There is no doubt about it, this cutback will have a damaging impact on our roads. Road users can expect to see more potholes and increased damage to their cars and higher repair costs in 2018.
"Road maintenance budgets have already suffered from significant cutbacks in recent years and this has had a detrimental impact on transport infrastructure. Minister Ross should be dramatically increasing the funding allocated for roads maintenance, but instead he is overseeing the implementation of damaging cutbacks.
"Where exactly is the additional money he secured in Budget 2018 actually going towards? It's perfectly clear from the TII that it is not going towards roads maintenance budgets."
(CD/JP)
Time and date
CONSTRUCTION DIRECTORY
Construction News
30/11/2017
Transport Minister Called To 'Urgently Review' Roads Maintenance Funding
Latest Construction News
02/05/2024
BAM is set to bring a prime retail investment opportunity in Cork City centre to the market at a guide price of €1,730,000. The property is situated in the heart of Cork on the west side of South Main Street. It is an integral part of the Brewery Quarter Development, featuring a range of ...
02/05/2024
Lagan Group has marked the end of a long-standing contract that outsourced the operation of wastewater treatment facilities at Kinnegar, Holywood in County Down for the past 25 years. The contract which was undertook through the UK government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI) was awarded back in ...
02/05/2024
SSE Renewables has obtained a fully consented 100MW / 200MWh battery storage project near Dungannon in County Tyrone from Heron Energy. If delivered, the Derrymeen battery energy storage system (BESS) which has an installed capacity of 100MW / 200MW, would be the largest installed battery storage ...
02/05/2024
Martin & Hamilton has completed upgrade and extension works for the new Border Force Immigration facilities at Belfast International Airport. The works involved layout amendments spanning two floors, including the relocation of existing Border Force offices and modifications to the Departures ...
02/05/2024
Minister for Communities, Gordon Lyons, has provided an update on the introduction of urgent legislation to address the disparity of legal protection to citizens affected by defective premises. On 15 April 2024, Mr Lyons announced to Members the proposed legislation that he intends to bring ...
02/05/2024
Alliance has called for a comprehensive strategy to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to a fairer, greener society, powered by renewable energy. The party's Economy spokesperson, David Honeyford MLA, has identified the need for reform of the planning system as key to the development of ...
02/05/2024
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance, Pearse Doherty TD, has condemned the carbon tax hike on home heating fuels, calling it a "blow" to households that are struggling with high energy costs. The forthcoming tax hike will affect both home heating and gas. In the last three years alone, gas prices ...
02/05/2024
NI Water has been granted a licence to temporarily use Foyle Street Car Park in order to carry out a major wastewater network upgrade in L'Derry this summer. Now the licence and other agreements is in place, NI Water has been able to appoint a contractor who will mobilise to the car park in the ...
02/05/2024
Uisce Éireann has announced that essential works will be carried out on the water network in Clonakilty on Tuesday 7 May and a water outage will take place. The critical improvements are underway as part of Uisce Éireann's Leakage Reduction Programme. They will improve the water supply network in ...
02/05/2024
Kildare County Council has published its new Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) guidelines which is set to benefit the built and natural environment. The Council has begun implementing SuDS design in its Parks projects and is committed to integrating this approach into all future projects. This ...