Transport body warned Eamon Ryan of 'consequences' of halting road upgrade funding

In internal discussions over a controversial report submitted to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, officials said it was a 'stark reminder' of what would happen if upgrades of 18 major roads did not go ahead.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said the Department of Transport needed to be fully aware of the consequences of any decision that would see funding for new road improvement schemes halted.

In internal discussions over a controversial report submitted to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, officials said it was a “stark reminder” of what would happen if upgrades of 18 major roads did not go ahead.

The report had predicted 77 deaths and 381 serious injuries over the following five years if the schemes — which included priority projects in Cork, Meath, Mayo, and the Midlands — were not funded by Government.

In internal discussions, officials in Transport Infrastructure Ireland were congratulated on putting the report together so quickly, with most of the information gathered a couple of days in advance of Budget 2023 in October of last year.

TII chief executive Peter Walsh wrote: “I think that the note reflects the opinions and requests of the board members … and is a stark reminder to us all, of why we do what we do.

"The final funding decisions are being made currently and I believe that it is important that the decision-makers are fully informed as to the consequences of their decisions.” 

A note from a board meeting from October 2022 said while they understood Mr Ryan’s emphasis on climate action and public transport, they were obliged to point out “safety issues” on the road network and the “consequences of underfunding”.

A note said: “In keeping with TII’s obligations to provide a safe and efficient road network, the board requested that management communicate to [the department] the implications (with a particular focus on safety benefits) of each scenario.” 

However, the records also reveal how the safety report was hastily put together by Transport Infrastructure Ireland with much of the data gathered over a period of less than two days.

On October 27, an official wrote to colleagues sharing a work-in-progress draft which he described as “very rough”.

“In the ‘consequences’ table you can see the sort of information I need: fatalities and serious injuries because of a five-year delay. Other information is ‘nice to have’.” 

The email added: “I feel we need to get this note into the department by tomorrow afternoon if it is to influence thinking.” 

For one of the impacted projects, data was quickly provided along with a picture of a particular blackspot on the road.

An email said: “The photograph is worth a thousand words!” 

Asked about the speed at which the report was put together, a spokesman for TII said: “The accuracy of the report stands robustly because the data provided was a compilation of the relevant information obtained from the individual road projects business cases.

“As a result, the timeframe of compiling the information did not impact the quality of the consolidated report.”