A dispute within the Coalition has surfaced due to a lack of pledged funding for minor road projects, and Fianna Fáil is advocating for an increase in allocation to address this matter ahead of the forthcoming budget. A lack of up to €40 million for these undertakings seems to have developed in the previous weeks, and Fianna Fáil TDs place the responsibility squarely on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan.
Contrasting this, Mr Ryan’s representative denies any decrease in capital funding for national roads in 2024, as disclosed earlier this year. She also reassures that this would not interfere with any safety enhancement plans. However, junior Transport Department minister, James Lawless of Fianna Fáil, is purportedly urging this issue to be part of the Budget 2025 negotiations.
We’ve understood that an immediate dispensation of about €7 million has been identified to initiate some of the works, although the rest of the funding has already been depleted. A source with insight on the subject stated, “Last year’s budget has been exhausted. The required funds must be sourced from the upcoming budget.”
Road paving industry lobbyists brought a €38 million funding gap to the ministers’ attention last month. However, it appears that the total deficiency actually exceeds €40 million. Almost €18 million of this total pertains to projects singled out for tender but currently on hold, while the rest pertains to initiatives that have hit a wall before reaching the tender stage.
Although some funds have been identified for use in the current year, there still remains a sizable deficit. An informant close to Mr. Lawless expressed his astonishment at the state of affairs at the Department. They further added that he would advocate for multi-year financial distributions in the future adding, “These roads have already received clearance last year for development, which is critical for Government unity, but they appear to be backtracking on their commitment.”
Members of the Fianna Fáil political party are increasingly eager for certain issues to be addressed before the upcoming budget is announced. TD James O’Connor, representative for Cork East, has suggested that the funds required for specific projects could be drawn from this year’s budget allocation. In an earlier letter he dispatched to his party members, O’Connor implied the shortfall is causing widespread problems, affecting too many projects to precisely pinpoint each one.
O’Connor has proposed a meeting with Minister Paschal Donohoe to push for the necessary investment funding ahead of the budget release, underlining the importance of this for his party colleagues. He also expressed the urgent need for the Transport Minister to negotiate with DPER to secure the financing agreed in the capital plan earlier this year. O’Connor also mentioned that the Transport Minister has been known to disagree with roadwork projects.
Reacting to these accusations, the representative for Mr. Ryan referred to budget strains on multiple new road ventures due to quicker delivery times, land procurement expenditure, inflation, and the rising cost of materials. The rep also pointed out that the National Development Plan’s financial limits were put into place during this government’s tenure, along with the decision to dedicate funds to public transport in a 2:1 ratio, in order to compensate for years of disregard and insufficient funding by past administrations. The overall money dedicated to roads this year remains unaltered.
The Green Party has contended that halting the renewal works would result in new, key projects being obstructed. Fianna Fail TD’s must decide which new road projects they’d prefer to be postponed, or, if they want to increase road funding, which public transport initiatives they are willing to cancel, such as BusConnects, new town bus services or extra train routes, suggested the representative.