The Rural Independent TDs have strongly criticised Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for enabling the Green Party to indefinitely halt at least eight major new road projects that were scheduled and promised for construction this year.
Group leader, Independent Tipperary TD, Mattie McGrath wants the leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to justify the decisions. The shelved projects include planned upgrades to roads in between Waterford, Cork, Offaly, Limerick, and Galway. All of the routes involved are national roads and were earmarked for investment under various government plans, including the National Development Plan.
The leader of the Rural Independent Group, Deputy Mattie McGrath says the decision reveals what he calls the “Green Party’s unwavering policy to obstruct road projects, disregarding the poor condition and inherent dangers posed by these routes.”
Deputy McGrath described the lack of funding for roads in the National Development Plan up to 2025 as an attack on rural communities and motorists and added that the “Green Party’s push for transportation options focused solely on public transport and active travel, while neglecting essential major road developments, poses a significant risk to rural and regional sufficiency, economic development, and road safety.”
