00:00 I welcome this statement and any additional investment in our crumbling network. A constituent
00:05 just remarked to me last week that we used to drive on the left of the road, now we drive on
00:10 what's left of the road. Can the Minister estimate how many holes will be filled by this £1 million
00:17 and would he agree with me that the cumulative negative impact of not having an executive has
00:25 been particularly harsh on our roads given the perennial reliance of his department on monitoring
00:32 roads to boost the road maintenance budget? Thank you, Cian Collier. Well there obviously has been
00:42 an impact on road maintenance programs because as the Member will be aware from his previous time
00:46 in DRD, I think it was DRD there, DOE there, no it's changed that many times, that this department
00:53 does rely on monitoring rounds to uplift its maintenance budget. I would hope we're now in
00:58 that position to start that program of work and I can assure everyone in the House that I will be
01:03 looking towards those monitoring rounds to have further investment in our road maintenance
01:07 program. In regards to how many schemes, I emphasise to Members this isn't a case of us
01:14 coming along with a wheelbarrow of tarmac or asphalt and tipping it into a hole. These will
01:18 be resurfacing schemes in many areas so I estimate between 40 and 50 schemes will be carried out with
01:24 this and it is only a small start but it is a start and as I said I will continue to look for
01:29 other finals to carry out this work. I very much welcome the money that has now become available
01:34 and I would like to ensure that obviously the Western Division gets its fair share as you'd
01:39 mentioned. It would be remiss of me if I didn't mention the Northland Road in the constituency
01:44 of Foyle in the City of Derry if it wasn't for the local residents and neighbourhoods in that
01:48 area that alerts people on a daily basis to the dangers on that road due to huge potholes. Just
01:54 as of Saturday once again it was the whole day and it just went viral on social media so I just want
02:00 to highlight the Northland Road and ensure that yourself as Minister can ensure the Western
02:04 Division prioritises it in the resurfacing here today. Minister, thank the Member for
02:10 keen comments on her question. In relation to what road network each division highlights that will be
02:17 a matter for the divisional manager and I would encourage the Member to engage with the divisional
02:21 manager around that. It's worth noting and reminding our road network has fallen into
02:26 disrepair over several years and has been under invested in over a decade and when you have
02:32 climate change and you have significant downpourings of rain it causes significant damage to our road
02:38 network. If that's followed up by frost then you're in for significant problems. So I have taken a
02:43 whole new interest in the weather forecast in regards to my role as DFI Minister. I hope we're
02:49 now heading into a spring but there's still potential for heavy showers and frost which
02:53 causes significant damage to our road network. Minister, you made a statement and indeed welcomed
02:58 the £1 million. However, just up to last month there were 11,000 potholes across
03:03 Lundurin's Trebann area. Does the Minister agree that it is more important that we actually invest
03:08 in our roads rather than pay compensation and can the Minister give any indication as to what the
03:14 expenditure was on compensation for 2023? Minister, I don't have the figures available to me but I'm
03:20 happy to share them with the Member and also lodge them in the Assembly Library so other Members
03:25 have access to it. We are in a situation now where the roads are in such a state of disrepair, we all
03:31 know it, that vehicles are being damaged and compensation claims are being paid out. I need
03:35 to rebalance that to ensure that our roads are being fixed and minimise those compensation claims.
03:40 It makes economic sense.
