LATEST: Coalition under fire over stalling of N24 Cahir to Waterford road upgrade

The Rural Independent Group of TDs, led by Tipperary’s Mattie McGrath, have criticised the Government for the stalling of at least eight major national road projects, including the upgrade of the N24 between Cahir and Waterford City.

Deputy McGrath accused Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of “enabling” the Green Party to “indefinitely halt” these new road projects and accused Transport Minister Eamon Ryan of the Green Party of “derailing” these projects.

He said the Government announced €5.1bn for capital spending on new national road projects from 2021 to 2030 but accused the Green Party of “impeding the utilization of this allocated funding for new road projects” due to its “anti-roads” policy.

“Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has signalled a complete suspension of planning works on eight major road schemes due to a severe shortage of funds. In fact, the situation is so dire that the chief executive of TII, Peter Walsh, declared in November that the budget allotted to roads in the National Development Plan (NDP) - approximately €1.1 billion for the period 2021-2025 - would offer only "limited scope" for advancing these crucial schemes.”

He said nothing has changed since last November.

"The Rural Independent Group has learned from TII that works on at least eight major schemes have been shelved.

“They are the N24 Waterford to Cahir, N2 Clontibret to the Border; N4 Mullingar to Longford; N11/M11 Junction 4 to Junction 14; N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton; N25 Waterford to Glenmore; N52 Tullamore to Kilbeggan; and N59 Clifden to Maam Cross.

“To highlight the madness of this situation, it is worth pointing out that some of these projects were granted planning ten years ago,” he continued.

Deputy McGrath accused the Green Party of having an “ anti-road agenda” and alleged this was behind the lack of investment in national roads, despite boosted taxation revenues and prior Government commitments.

“The Green Party’s push for transportation options focused solely on public transport and active travel, while neglecting essential major road developments, poses a significant risk to rural and regional sufficiency, economic development, and road safety.”

He called on the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to make statements outlining why they are allowing this situation to develop.

Deputy McGrath made his comments ahead of last Thursday’s Cabinet meeting at which ministers were told of an almost €100m underspend by the Department of Transport in the first three months of this year.

The underspending in the Department was on the delivery of national roads, as well as greenway and electrical vehicle infrastructure.

It’s understood a number of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ministers expressed concern at the underspend on national roads.

The Government, meanwhile, insists it expects to spend the full allocation by the end of the year.

“It is normal at this point of the year for the level of spend to be quite low with a degree of underspend, with expenditure returning to profile by year-end,” a Government statement explained.