The Mineral Products Association Northern Ireland (MPANI) has raised serious concerns over the state of the region’s road network, citing historic underfunding and staff shortages within the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) as major threats to road safety and economic stability.

Recent reviews show that the budget for essential road maintenance has fallen to its lowest level in decades, covering only a fraction of what is required to keep roads in safe and serviceable condition. Councils and contractors report that resurfacing programmes and defect repairs have been significantly reduced or postponed, leaving communities and businesses to contend with worsening road surfaces and increased safety hazards.

MPANI warns that without urgent action, the combined impact of insufficient funding and staffing pressures could have serious long-term consequences for transport infrastructure, public safety, and the local economy.

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At the same time, DfI's Transport & Roads Asset Management (TRAM) teams capacity to deliver essential maintenance work has been severely undermined by unprecedented staff shortages across engineering, inspection, and procurement teams. This is resulting in long delays to project approvals, slower emergency responses, and an increasing backlog of unrepaired defects.

Gordon Best, Regional Director of MPANI, said: "The situation has reached breaking point. Years of underinvestment, combined with a loss of experienced staff, mean that our road network is literally crumbling faster than it can be repaired. The safety of road users, the efficiency of our transport system, and the competitiveness of our economy are all being put at risk.

"Well-maintained roads are vital for every aspect of daily life, from emergency services and school transport to freight, tourism, and rural access. Without urgent action from the Executive to restore adequate funding and rebuild delivery capacity within DfI, Northern Ireland faces a managed decline of its most important public asset now valued at some £40 billion."

MPANI is calling for an immediate re-allocation of capital funding as part of the upcoming December Monitoring Round when ring fenced and non-ring fenced allocations for other capital projects that have not progressed, such as the A5, to ensure road maintenance budgets are restored to sustainable levels, alongside additional resources for a DfI workforce recovery plan to address critical vacancies and rebuild technical capability across the department.