Debate contribution: Road Maintenance

Debate contribution by Mr Harry Harvey on 16 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Harry Harvey

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

16 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Road Maintenance

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5391873

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I attached my name to the motion in the Order Paper to highlight what could arguably be the biggest —

— the biggest issue affecting the people of Northern Ireland as a collective. Health is important, but not everyone has required a doctor since 2026 began. Equally, not everyone has engaged with our education system in that time or had experience of other areas of government, but every one of us has had to use the roads. There are few issues that unite the Chamber or the public, but the maintenance crisis that is evident across our crumbling road network is one of them. The figures that have been reported in the debate by party colleagues and others lay bare the magnitude of the scandal. Some 49,000 defects have been recorded in the past three months. That figure is a scandal. Equally scandalous are the sums of money that are being handed out on vehicle and personal injury claims. Across 2024-25, £700,000 was the bill to the public purse in one district section area alone. Our roads are crumbling around us, and we are swerving to avoid potholes the size of craters, but what is the Minister's priority? Cycle lanes to nowhere and political vanity projects that benefit no one's daily life. No doubt, the Minister will reiterate that her Department has not got enough money, but, with a budget of £850 million and yet another injection of £8 million in a winter recovery road fund, she cannot credibly plead poverty. The public are not stupid. If you cannot fix potholes from a budget of £850 million, you are not prioritising potholes; if you are not prioritising potholes, you are not listening to the public. The public do not want climate change target excuses. They want delivery, and delivery is in the gift of this Sinn Féin Minister. It is the Minister who decides where the money is spent, and it is long past time that she started spending some of it on our roads. There are undoubtedly any number of areas ripe for change that would tangibly benefit from attempts to rectify the current situation. Patch maintenance that lasts no time before the surface crumbles again points to poor materials being used by contractors; skeleton staffing levels in some geographical areas at service delivery level in the Department need urgent attention; and new technologies in use internationally for road maintenance should be implemented. Those are all areas that should be considered. There is an opportunity to reshape how we do road maintenance in its entirety, driving up productivity and overall quality and managing resources effectively for the long term. Unfortunately, the problems in the Department for Infrastructure are growing by the day. The roads crisis is deepening and urgently requires decisive leadership and delivery. Minister, this is an emergency that requires action by you, so let us not dither and delay. Let us not talk about 10-year plans. Let us get it sorted, and try to do it now.

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

Assessment

Not qualifying

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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