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“TAR, TAR, AND and more tar, that is what the people of Ireland expect and that is what we intend to deliver,” Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae said today as the government announced its €1.5 billion roads programme.
While Healy Rae said this announcement “signals national step change”, in terms of the delivery of road projects, that was not the message from Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien today.
While there has been much talk around this government and how it ditched previous governments 2:1 public transport-to-roads spending ratio, O’Brien claimed today that it not the case.
The transport minister said a 2:1 ratio on public transport versus new road projects is still being maintained, even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the latest review of the National Development Plan (NDP).
The previous ratio, which had been agreed between the previous coalition involving the Green Party, is not a firm commitment in the current programme for government.
The NDP’s sectoral investment plan for transport, which was published in November, outlines €10.1 billion in funding allocations for public transport between 2026-2030, excluding €2 billion in the Infrastructure, Nature and Climate Fund – while €9.7 billion was allocated for road networks and road safety.
As these overall metrics approach a 1:1 ratio, the Green Party said the old rule had been scrapped and that the government’s public transport investment was approaching “near parity” with spending on roads.
However, O’Brien told reporters today that the 2:1 ratio is exceeded when the old coalition’s standard of “new public transport infrastructure and new roads over its lifetime” is applied.
Speaking in Government Buildings today, he said:
“There was charges made by, in particular (Green Party leader) Roderic O’Gorman, who was in the last government, actually saying that the ratio was less than 2:1; it wasn’t.
“The ratio is more than 2:1 new public transport projects versus roads.”
The minister said the government was operating a ratio of “about 2.3-2.4:1”.
However, O’Gorman rejected the comments as “spin”.
He said: “The minister should set out exactly how the roads budget is being broken down – new roads versus maintenance of existing roads.”
O’Gorman also highlighted a press release by Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae in which he said the road network had crumbled under a “regressive approach” to investment by the Green Party.
The Green Party leader said: “Darragh O’Brien says one thing, Michael Healy-Rae says the exact opposite.”
He said “someone is spinning a story” and either the Green Party’s approach on the 2:1 ratio is being acknowledged as correct or roads will actually be prioritised over public transport.
O’Gorman said if the 2:1 ratio is maintained there is not “going to be much room in the road budget for new roads – and there’s going to be a lot of disappointed Fianna Fail and Fine Gael backbenchers”.
He added: “Or, as I suspect, over the next five years we will see roads prioritised over public transport, which is already being proven by pushing some shovel-ready public transport projects – DART South West, Finglas Luas – out post-2030, because there isn’t the money for them in this five years, because it’s being spent on roads.”
Speaking today, the transport minister said many of the projects in the NDP, such as DART South West, are to be expedited.
O’Brien’s comments came at a press conference where he announced the details of a €1.5 billion allocation for national, regional and local roads.
This is broken down as €800 million for national roads and €718 million for regional roads.
The funding will progress new national road projects identified in the NDP, including the Adare Bypass, N5 Ballaghaderreen-Scramoge, and M28 Cork-Ringaskiddy.
Asked if the Adare Bypass will be completed before the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Limerick in September 2027, Minister of State for Road Safety Sean Canney said: “Sufficient funds have been put in place to make sure that the bypass is completed and we’re ready.”
The projects also include €16.5 million for almost 300 climate resilience measures.
Minister of State Sean Canney was asked if there are specific road projects featured in the funding announcement that were specifically mentioned in the programme for government negotiations with the independent TDs in government.
Canney denied there was any specific road project asks, but said the discussions focused around policy. However, he did say there is no TD in the House that would not be advocating for their specific constituency road project.
However, in a statement this afternoon, Minister Healy-Rae said the increased funding reflects commitments sought and secured by Independent representatives prior to entering government.
“Before entering Government, Independent TDs made it absolutely clear that we needed a reset when it came to roads. We sought and secured firm commitments that there would be a step change in investment and a renewed focus on rebuilding our national road network,” he said.
With reporting by Christina Finn
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