In counties such as Monaghan, rather than tar as a new dawn, as one Minister described it, people instead continue to damage their suspension and blow out tyres following yet another false dawn. Despite all the bluster of Ministers, maintenance and road repair funding in County Monaghan will not increase significantly to improve road repairs. That is because 43% of the additional funding that has been promised this time will be used for speed limit signage. That is an increase of 2,745 per cent for speed signage; not for enforcement or repairs but for signage. The conditions of some of our roads in County Monaghan are woeful, despite the best efforts of our under-resourced council staff. Why have the people of Monaghan been refused funding to repair, improve and maintain our roads to a necessary standard?

While I am not aware of the exact investment that was allocated in recent weeks, investment in road maintenance and expansion has increased across the board. It is important that this continues to increase and that every local authority gets its fair share. Speed is the number one killer. It is very important that we maintain our roads, which play a key role in keeping people safe. We must do everything we possibly can to reduce speeds on our roads and highlight where changes are taking place. Different changes are taking place throughout the country in reducing speeds. We need to make sure there is investment on both sides, in our roads and in making sure we reduce the speed levels, which contribute to so many of the deaths and serious accidents we have seen.