FG: €184m of road repair fund 'not spent'

Fine Gael have said that almost half of the money allocated to local councils "has still not been used", even though winter is approaching rapidly.

Time is running out for local authorities to repair roads damaged in last year’s big freeze before the winter weather returns, Fine Gael Road Safety spokesman Tom Hayes has warned.

Mr Hayes said: "Some €414m of emergency funding was given to councils this year to repair badly damaged roads. Yet €184m of that funding has still not been spent - that’s 44% of the total.

The party said that councils can only avail of this money until the end of the year. The claim comes as Ireland sees the end of Road Safety Week.

Mr Hayes said: "The biggest losers of all will be motorists, who witnessed the dramatic deterioration of roads all over Ireland last winter. This has serious safety consequences, as well as causing untold damage to vehicles.

"I am calling on local authorities to make maximum use of the available funding. There is no guarantee that similar funding will be available next year. Yet the coming winter is set to be just as bad, if not worse, as last year’s."