There is no doubt the roads in my constituency are in an atrocious condition. I would dearly welcome the Minister of State coming down to see some of them. I spend most of my time travelling, but during the weekend when I am in my constituency, I spend most of my time trying to go around potholes. It is not good enough. It is the height of danger. We have verges that are not cut and there are trees hanging over onto roadways. The other day, The Southern Star, our newspaper down there, ran a piece by Kieran O'Mahony on the front page about how people cannot pass their driving test because they cannot see the lines on the road. There are no lines on the road and all the signs are blocked because everything is overgrown. There is a complete lack of funding and a complete lack of understanding that Cork County Council has been underfunded not for a couple of years but for decades, and it cannot deliver when it does not have money. It is a very serious issue. I am on the transport committee and I raised this next issue the other day. Has the Minister of State met the car manufacturers? The biggest problem we have today is that there are computer screens inside cars. There is a bloody portable television up on the dashboard. People can no longer just put down the hand and turn on the radio or put on the heating. You did not have to look; now you have to work a computer. A lot of people give out to us if we use mobile phones, which we should not do, of course, but when you are driving, there is a computer screen at the front of every new car you can buy today. That is an appalling situation. There are many issues. Take passing bays. On the N71, the R586 and the R585, there is not one passing bay. I could be held behind a tractor for 25 or 30 minutes on the road by someone pulling stuff. I would appreciate a little bit more money. Maybe the Minister of State could take a visit down there some time and we can have a look at all these issues.

Sentiment score: -0.09