Lack of funds has put the Government's ambitious €6 billion road-building plan on hold this year. An analysis by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) indicates the €1 billion allocated in the Budget for national and non-national roads will allow only the completion of projects already under way.
The Department of the Environment and Local Government said yesterday it did not contest the analysis by the federation. CIF has identified four long-awaited bypass projects costing around €300 million which are ready to proceed but are stalled for lack of funding. These are intended to ease congestion at Monasterevin, Co Kildare, Ennis, Co Clare, Cashel, Co Tipperary, and Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.
The projects have gone out to tender but have not been given the green light due to lack of funds, according to Mr Don O'Sullivan, director of the CIF.
A spokeswoman for the National Roads Authority (NRA) refused to comment on the analysis, adding that the Government would not formally announce the authority's 2002 budget until the end of this month. A spokesman for the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said his Department did not challenge the analysis, but it was up to the NRA to decide how the Budget allocation was distributed.
The CIF claims evidence is now emerging of a general funding problem with the €50 billion National Development Plan and the roads programme in particular. "We don't see any momentum for its implementation. The plan will not be delivered," said Mr Liam Kelleher, the chief executive of the federation.