Debate contribution: Road Maintenance
Debate contribution by Mr Maolíosa McHugh on .
- MLA
- Mr Maolíosa McHugh
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 16 February 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Road Maintenance
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5391941
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
I am pleased to support the amendment that we tabled because it provides clarity and honesty to the debate, as my colleague articulated. The motion reflects a reality that every MLA and every road user recognises. The condition of our roads has deteriorated to the point where they pose a risk to motorcyclists, pedestrians and motorists. The motion is right to highlight the impact of storm Chandra and the harsh winter that we have endured. It is also right to note the sheer scale of the problem. In 2025, over 127,000 surface defects were recorded across the North, including almost 98,000 potholes. That is not a minor issue. It is a network under serious strain, and communities in every constituency are feeling it. However, the problem did not appear overnight, and it will not be fixed overnight. Years of underinvestment, combined with increasingly severe weather, have left our roads more vulnerable to rapid deterioration. Storm Chandra and the recent winter conditions have made that painfully clear. It is in that context that I acknowledge the work being done by the Minister for Infrastructure and DFI staff. The amendment, fairly, recognises the practical steps that have been taken.
The £300 million that was secured in December 2025 and the further £7·85 million for targeted road maintenance in response to storm Chandra show that the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister of Finance are working proactively to increase the resources available to tackle the worst of the damage. That funding will not solve everything, but it will make roads safer and allow urgent works and resurfacing to proceed where they are needed most.
In 2015, when Michelle McIlveen was Minister for Infrastructure, the Department, because of financial pressures, operated a limited maintenance service. I welcome the draft road maintenance strategy consultation, which accepts that we need to take a different approach, one that is more targeted, that is more sustainable and that makes better use of technology and data to direct limited resources to the highest-risk defects. It cannot stop at the draft stage, however. That is why it is right to call for an updated strategy and detailed action plan to be brought forward urgently once the consultation closes. This should not be a blame game. I agree with my colleague Cathal that the signatories to the motion have demonstrated that they are more interested in playing party politics than in addressing the pothole problem. The state of our roads affects every constituency. If we are serious about turning the situation around, all parties need to support additional, sustained funding for DFI and a long-term plan to rebuild the resilience of the network. I will share a story with Members. One night, a number of years back, I left Glebe to travel to my home in Castlederg. I went across what is known as Fern Hill, which is a ridge that separates the Derg valley from the Finn valley. The road was the width of my car. It had been newly tarred and stoned. The following day, when a person raised a constituency issue with me about roads, I told them about that road. They said, "If they can do that to a mountain road, why will they not do it to our main roads?". I replied, "The difference is that that road is in the Republic". Perhaps there is a lesson in there for all of us.
574 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Awaiting analysis
This record has not been analysed yet. It is not counted in any total until it has been assessed.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.