Debate contribution: Road Maintenance Strategy

Debate contribution by Ms Liz Kimmins on 15 September 2025.

MLA

Ms Liz Kimmins

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

15 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Road Maintenance Strategy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5100298

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle.

I thank the Members for tabling this important motion on the condition of the road network in the North, specifically the high number of potholes recorded and the increase in expenditure on public liability claims in the past five years. I note the concerns about the longer-term impact of the Department's limited service for road maintenance, which we have seen for a number of years now. I listened intently to the comments of, and issues raised by, Members across the Chamber. I heard their concerns loud and clear, because I agree that maintenance of the road network is crucial for the safety of all road users, and that investing in the maintenance of roads is critical to the movement of goods and, indeed, the growth of our economy. You would be forgiven for thinking that the roads issue has come about in just the past seven months, and that it is as a result of a decision not to fund the maintenance of our roads, when quite the opposite is true. My Department, like other Departments, as I am sure colleagues from many parties will be aware, has been operating in an extremely difficult financial environment for a number of years. I thank the Member for North Down, who is not in the Chamber now, for recognising that that is as a result of a number of years of underfunding and austerity by the British Government. Whilst I take on board the comments that that Government have now changed and that people want to hear about the root cause of the problem, I say this: I know what the root cause is; it is a lack of funding for many years. Some statements that we heard are contradictory. We heard about a maintenance backlog of over five years and what that has cost. I think that the figure that was quoted was £1 billion. That is as a result of years and years of underinvestment and Tory austerity: that is a fact. We are now trying to address that backlog while doing what we should be doing daily anyway. I think that we can square that circle at some stage if we get the money. That underinvestment creates significant challenges for our ability to maintain the road network in a safe condition, and that has been the predominant issue in the discussion this evening. I share the frustrations and, at times, see the inconvenience that this matter causes for all our constituents. We are all road users, as has been articulated this evening. People in our communities rely on the road network to do business, go to work, go to school and, most importantly, connect with each other. My officials have worked very hard. I noted the comments from across the House this evening about the hard work of officials in each of the areas that we represent. They have worked extremely hard to maintain the road network but have, nonetheless, been forced to concentrate on only the highest priority road repairs and to introduce a limited service approach to road maintenance, as each of you mentioned. As a result of that, we have seen continued deterioration of our infrastructure over the past 10 years, with large numbers of potholes — the number continues to increase — and other defects developing right across the road network, particularly after periods of colder and wetter weather, which are becoming more frequent. It is important to point out that the shortfall in funding and the estimated gap between what was needed to maintain the network and what was actually available to spend between 2014 and 2024 was approximately £1 billion. It is not just a matter of saying, "We will take money out of something else and stick it into road maintenance". These are huge figures, and we have been continually operating with that shortfall. It is apparent that, given that significant shortfall, a difference in quality should be expected when it comes to that maintenance spend. The Executive agreed the 2025-26 Budget, and best use has been made of that funding to target road resurfacing. I said in response to questions at Question Time today that, for that reason, it has taken me significant time to agree my own budget. I disagree with comments that I have not prioritised or taken on board the comments of the Mineral Products Association. I have met that body, and I share its concerns, particularly in relation to the pipeline of work that is required to sustain the workforce, which is critical. I am very conscious of that, as well as being conscious of fulfilling our duty to maintain our road network.

I will finish this point and then give way. The reality is that, tomorrow, I will get questions about how much I am investing in the waste water infrastructure, which is also a priority for everybody in the House. I will then get more questions about how much investment I am putting into our public transport, which is also a priority for the House. I hope that I am painting a picture of the significant challenges in relation to capital spend and, in particular, in trying to deliver on all those key areas. Those are just three areas. The overall capital budget available to me this year was around £917 million. That sounds like a lot of money, but we have to factor in all the major road projects that we want to see delivered. We also want to see active travel infrastructure delivered. We also want to deliver on our public transport, our waste water infrastructure, our road network etc. Every one of those areas has a high cost, and I have to prioritise and make difficult decisions. I will give way.

It is difficult for me to have an opinion on that without knowing the detail, but, if you want to feed that into the Department, we can look at specific examples. The motion is about a road maintenance strategy. I have asked officials to bring forward a new strategy for all the reasons that have been outlined here this evening. We need to look at whether we can do things differently and get better value for money. I talk about getting more bang for our buck. We do not get it from the overall Budget that we are allocated by the British Government, so we have to make decisions that will ensure that we are getting the best impact. That has been my approach to everything that I have been doing since coming into this role. I will go back to some of the comments about my overall budget and how that has been allocated. As I said, the DFI budget this year is particularly challenging. However, as always, I will, where I can, continue to push for in-year funding. My colleague from Newry and Armagh referenced that we are waiting for money to be returned from the A5 project. We are working on an appeal regarding the A5. That is my priority, and I continue to work on it. I do not think that, at this stage, anybody can make a call on where that money will or will not be spent. We will continue to work on the basis of the budget that we have. If I can get money through monitoring rounds, so be it. Whilst it is very difficult, much of the work that is required for the structural maintenance of, and improvements to, our road network can be turned around quite quickly. It is not ideal, but it is also important to recognise that a multi-year budget would be transformational when it comes to being able to plan ahead for our roads and how we deliver maintenance. Over the past three years of budgets, £310 million was invested in our structural maintenance budget. If you look at the issue over a number of years, you see where the money has been spent. That work does not have to be done over and over again. I take on board the Member's points about the quality of the maintenance work that is done. Another issue that comes up quite frequently is the number of public liability claims that are received and the cost of settling those claims. Undoubtedly, claims have increased over the past five years in particular. Some of the reasons for that are beyond our control. I have mentioned severe weather conditions. We have a high and increasing number of vehicles using the road network, and more people now know that they can claim compensation. Through my constituency office work over the years and during my time as a councillor, I directed people to that process. It is more accessible now that it is online. There are a number of reasons for that increase. However, there is no doubt that the historical underinvestment in the road network is the key factor in relation to those increasing claim numbers as well.

I will, yes.

I thank the Member for his question. Essentially, the work that we do all the time is to ensure that we avoid the need for people to get their cars fixed as a result of the road network. That is the focus. If we can put more money into fixing the roads and maintaining the network, that will undoubtedly be the outcome. That is the overall rationale for that. That leads me to the maintenance strategy itself. Members have mentioned a number of examples that they have seen in their work. In particular, Peter Martin raised a point about fixing one pothole but bypassing others. I have continually raised that issue. The maintenance strategy looks to take a different approach and develop other ways of focusing on improving the network's overall condition whilst making the best use of that limited funding and resource in a way that balances safety and value for money. It should be data-driven and supported by sound engineering judgement. It should address the problem in a meaningful and sustainable way. I am keen to see that. We talked about efficiency. It is about being efficient and using money in the best way that we can. For me, the measure of that will be seeing how resilient and sustainable our road surfaces are in the future. As Members are aware, officials have been working on that new strategy. It will be considered in detail. The proposer of the motion mentioned that I had said earlier in the year that the strategy would come in a few weeks. We are closer to that. We are now finalising the development of the action plan. It is very important that an action plan goes with any strategy so that we say not only what we would like to do but how we will set out to do it. I hope that gives some reassurance that we are almost there. The main objectives of the strategy are to improve the overall condition of the road network, enhance safety and quality, and deliver a targeted programme of intelligent maintenance investment. That will require better use of technology and intelligence to ensure that we make smarter decisions — that ties in with what others have said — through digitally supported procedures to inspect and repair roads and inform decision-making. We probably have not been able to use modern technology to its full potential in previous years. That will help us to direct investment to where it is most needed, ensuring smarter maintenance decisions and future-proofing our roads, which I am keen for us to work to achieve. We have to recognise the changing needs of our society as well, including in relation to active travel. Gerry Carroll referenced that in his remarks. We also have to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations and ensure that the network is resilient after those adverse weather events, which we have been seeing more and more.

Obviously, that would be an operational decision for Translink, but I am happy to take that forward. With other services that we are hoping to enhance, I have been in conversations with Translink. However, as with the conversation that we are having tonight, Translink's budget is also limited. However, reflecting on that, I am happy to take that back to see what we can do. Some of my colleagues referred to rural roads. My colleague in South Down talked about the roads in Newry, Mourne and Down — in particular, south Down. I am acutely aware of all those issues. I see them daily. As I have said time and time again, aside from my role as Minister, I am a constituency MLA. I probably get more roads issues through my constituency office now for that reason. We can all see that. We all feel it. It affects everybody's daily lives. Therefore, it is probably the biggest frustration that most people have. I do not want to take away from that. I acknowledge that we need to get to grips with it. However, it is a huge and costly challenge. There is no doubt about that. I am committed to ensuring that I can get as much investment as I can into the Department and that area of work so that we can maintain our roads to a higher standard. I have been up and down roads all over the country, North and South, over the past number of months, and consciously thinking about and comparing what we have in the North with what is in the South. The same challenges exist everywhere. The size of the network can, in itself, be an issue. It is not an easy fix, but I want to make good headway on that and see how we can do it. The strategy will help. We will see the benefits of it, as the pilot in the Ards and North Down area has shown. I thank the Members who brought the motion to the House and everyone for their contributions to the debate. It is important to recognise that, whilst we can try to blame each other and all the rest, the issue probably unites every one of us, as does health. Long-term underinvestment in our roads has impacted on the integrity and deterioration of the network. That is not what the public, my Department or I want to see. I am committed to continuing to develop that new road maintenance strategy —

— and to deliver on that. Hopefully, I can work with Executive colleagues to continue to find ways forward for investment and to deliver for everyone.

2,438 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

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.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification