Debate contribution: Road Maintenance Strategy

Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on 15 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Robbie Butler

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

15 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Road Maintenance Strategy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5100262

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I support the motion and thank the Member for bringing it to the House. I begin by recognising the absolute frustration that people across Northern Ireland feel about the shocking decline in the state of our roads and pavements. Every Member so far, including the Member from the Minister's party, has outlined that we spend a lot of time, on behalf of constituents across the country, responding to queries about pavements and paths that need resurfacing or the potholes. I pay tribute to a councillor from my party, Alan Martin, who seems to spend most of his time cutting grass for DFI or pointing out potholes to the Lisburn division of DFI Roads. We all work collectively and collegially to improve the state of our paths and roads. In my constituency of Lagan Valley, the situation is, frankly, a disgrace. The roads, both rural and urban, that were once fit for purpose are now riddled with potholes, uneven surfaces and crumbling verges. When I am out, residents stop me — as they stop many MLAs when they are out shopping — to talk about those issues and point them out, and, often, to ask you to go and look at the state of a road that they have to deal with. I pay tribute to the Department for Infrastructure staff who are on the ground. I find the Lisburn office very responsive, and it has an ambition to see improvements made. There is no problem communicating with those people, but they would do better with more resources. We have to be clear that it is not the workforce who are failing us; it is the systemic underinvestment that has left us unable to keep up with the demand. Earlier, I wanted to ask the Member a question because it was alluded to that technology might be a way of dealing with the problem; it has also been alluded to that we could travel differently, but we do not always have to go forward. Sometimes, we can look back to find a fix. I remember, in the days of the Department of the Environment, there were teams that could respond and fill the potholes. We did not need engineers to go out and mark the holes and go out the following month and the month after that to see whether the hole was getting bigger. We had people with buckets of tar who could go out and fill the potholes. I am not sure if that is a solution, but sometimes we do not need to look forward to improve the situation. Sometimes, we can and should look back and assess whether it was a better idea. I do not sit on the Infrastructure Committee, and I am blindsided by some of the detail that might have been discussed. However, why would we not have an agency in the Department that is ready to respond and go out and fill the blinking holes in, instead of assessing and measuring them and wasting councillors' and MLAs' time? Some 107,000 potholes were recorded in 2004, and Councillor Martin, in Lisburn, is probably responsible for recording a lot of them. I want to make a point as chair of the all-party group on disability. We know that this affects drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians, but one of the groups most impacted is those with disabilities: those who use wheelchairs or the elderly who are on rollators. For them, these hazards and uneven surfaces pose even greater trip hazards to navigate. That needs to be spoken on. Maybe the Minister can clarify this. I have down here in my research that around £25 million was paid out in compensation to drivers of cars that had been damaged by the failing road network. I hope that we can get some clarity on that. Another thing that I would like to get clarity on is that, often, when we report a pothole we are told that it has been referred to another utility provider. Sometimes that is a bit of a hump in the road — pardon the pun — to getting a quick remedy. Some of the other utility providers for the fixes maybe respond more quickly when DFI gets onto their back. However, whether you are driving to work, cycling to school or simply walking to the shops, we are agreed that you are entitled to a safe journey. Businesses, sadly, can sometimes be impacted by how people choose to travel. I am rapidly running out of time, but I have more questions for you here, Minister. I will wrap this up, if that is all right. Lagan Valley residents and residents across Northern Ireland are tired of excuses, swerving round potholes, waiting for months for repairs and seeing their rates and taxes disappear into the compensation piece. That is key to this. I support the motion wholeheartedly. I urge the Minister to take it seriously, and I think that she will. Let us see a strategy brought forward that matches the scale of the challenge.

841 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:10 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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