Irish roads are growing increasingly dangerous with 190 people losing their lives in 2025. There have been some truly horrific accidents on our roads in the north east in recent years. I have no doubt the Ministers of State have the same reaction as the rest of us when they see reports of collisions and loss of life and that they absolutely wish to meet the objective of achieving vision zero, that there would be no deaths on Irish roads. I will highlight a few areas where the Government has got it wrong and ask the Ministers of State to reflect on and give consideration to these matters. The N2 Clontibret to the Border and Ardee to Castleblayney roads schemes are crucial to the north-east region for various reasons. Where the project scored the highest in an appraisal by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, was on safety, being appraised as highly positive for safety, which is the highest possible score. TII has described these works as suspended due to funding constraints. Therefore, my first request as we debate road safety today, is whether we can do a reappraisal of projects which are currently underfunded and give an additional level of priority on the basis of safety. Second, I welcome that recently during oral questions - and it was actually quite refreshing - the Minister conceded to my party and constituency colleague, Deputy Carthy, that Cavan and Monaghan County Councils have been constrained by resources in terms of road safety and maintenance and repair and that they have not received the funding they need. There was a ridiculous situation last year where almost half of the increased funding provided to councils was for speed limit signage rather than maintenance and repair. I understand the Minister had hoped to publish the local and regional road funding allocations by the end of last month so I would appreciate if the Minister of State could indicate in his closing remarks when it is intended to publish them. Given the Minister has acknowledged that Cavan and Monaghan have been underfunded, will the Minister of State provide reassurance that he intends to redress this and provide a substantial increase to both local authorities so we can address this matter?

Sentiment score: 0.09