Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has pushed back on demands for more spending on roads projects, saying the Government aims to stick to its policy of a 2:1 split favouring public transport.
He came under pressure from Fine Gael backbenchers at a meeting on Tuesday evening to progress rural roads projects.
Mr Ryan was told that if money is not spent on keeping road projects moving forward, then they will “go backwards” and suffer further delays, according to sources present.
Roads infrastructure and maintaining the rollout and maintenance of the road network is emerging as a point of difference between the Greens and their coalition partners, with rural backbenchers in particular keen to see ongoing investment.
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Longford-based Fine Gael Senator Micheál Carrigy told RTÉ Radio after the meeting that it had been attended by about 15 members of the Fine Gael parliamentary party. He warned about the impact on regional development unless spending on roads was prioritised.
“If we don’t provide access to the capital, ports, airports, we’re going to struggle with that,” he said, arguing that the “entire north-west region of the country is not being serviced.”
Galway-based Senator Seán Kyne, who also attended the meeting, said he acknowledged that every project cannot be delivered at once “but it’s important that critical reload projects are allowed proceed through route selection and on through the planning process to allow for future delivery.”
Cork-based Senator Tim Lombard called for progress on projects like the Bandon relief road.
The Minister told the meeting that the ratio set out for spending in the programme for government has not been met, but instead has been shifting each year, although the commitment to the target remains.
At the meeting, Mr Ryan also said there were shortages of engineers and that local communities would benefit from smaller projects as much as they would from larger ones. Some present questioned the Minister on whether there was an “ethos” issue with the Green Party regarding road infrastructure.
A source present at the meeting said it was a “damp squib” where the sides did not even argue strongly as they were “so diametrically opposed there’s not much to be gained from it”.
A spokesman for Mr Ryan said he had outlined that there are constraints in both financing and human resourcing which impact on road developments, and defended investment in the network.
“Over the past three years this Government has allocated over €5 billion in funding for new roads, and the protection and renewal of existing roads. This year, we will spend over a billion euro in total on national, regional and local roads. These are not insignificant amounts,” Mr Ryan’s spokesman said.
He said €500 million of this year’s capital allocation would be spent on national roads, including works on safety works and resurfacing, and bypasses for towns like Moycullen, Listowel, Sallins or Killaloe
Mr Ryan’s spokesman said it had been a “good, open meeting” and that it was “constructive and useful”.
