Council chiefs may get greater say in spending road maintenance grants

The Government is considering giving local authority managers more discretion over how they spend road maintenance grants.

Public Transport Minister Alan Kelly made the comments yesterday as he defended a multi-million investment in bus and cycle lanes in Cork City at a time when money cannot be found to repair crumbling roads and fill huge potholes.

There has been growing criticism in recent months over the appalling state of the country’s secondary and rural roads, and the continual slashing of road maintenance grants.