4. Mr Martin asked the Minister for Infrastructure to outline any assessment that has been made as to whether the Ards and North Down Borough Council area gets a fair share of the roads maintenance budget. (AQO 3675/22-27)

The distribution of the funding that is available for capital structural maintenance for allocation to the four DFI Roads divisions are made based on need, using a range of weighted indicators that are tailored to each maintenance activity. Divisions broadly use those indicators when apportioning funding across council areas in order to ensure, as far as possible, an equitable distribution of that funding. Those indicators encompass usage, general surface condition, structural deformation, public enquiries and public liability claims.

The factors that are taken into account when distributing the available funding for essential maintenance activities such as patching and grass cutting include, for example, defect information, areas of grass and numbers of gullies. The capacity of our internal contractors is also a factor in the allocation of funding. Where our internal capacity cannot fully deliver the current requirements, my Department’s divisions or section offices must engage the services of external contractors. That cost will differ across council areas, depending on relevant capacity and external contract rates.

My Department’s four Roads divisions broadly use the indicators that I mentioned when apportioning their allocation across council areas in order to ensure, as far as possible, an equitable distribution of funds. Therefore I would like to assure the Member that Ards and North Down receives a fair and proportionate share of the funding that is made available to my Department for road maintenance, based on all the factors that I have outlined. We have discussed these matters previously and they were the topic of a recent Adjournment Debate, so we have explained how all of that is worked out.

My officials will continue to carry out inspections. Any defects that meet the current limited service maintenance policy will be reported for action and will be dealt with as soon as possible. The Member will be aware that we are also considering our budget for 2026/27, and the programme of works will be finalised once a budget is available.

I thank the Minister for her answer. Minister, according to data from your Department, my Constituency has the lowest level of DFI expenditure across the 11 council areas. The Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area, for example, receives 253% more than mine, yet the roads in my constituency, according to Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) data, are the second worst in Northern Ireland. Can you explain that discrepancy to me and will you, today, commit not only to re-examining how the roads budget is apportioned but to accepting a list of roads and pavements in my constituency from me, in order to see whether anything can be done about roads that are in a really bad state?

Every council area could probably make the same arguments about the numbers of defects and the level of maintenance that is required.

They are the second-worst in Northern Ireland.

I have set out clearly what the current methodology is. Based on the information and advice that is available to me, that is the fairest way to do it in order to ensure that distribution is proportionate. I do not wish to dismiss the statistics that the Member outlined, but it is important to look at what the capacity of the workforce may be in that area. That is a key aspect of all of this. I have said before in this Chamber that even if I had all the money that is required to fulfil the total road maintenance needs of our network, it is no good to me if we do not have the staff to deliver that work. There are vacancies, and, as the Chairperson of the Infrastructure Committee, the Member will be aware that we have undertaken a significant recruitment drive in order to increase our workforce capacity. That is what will help to deliver.

I said in my initial answer that when we do not have capacity, we have to use external contractors, which, naturally, comes with an increased cost. There are so many different factors. If the Member writes to me, I will be happy to provide him with more details in relation to Ards and North Down and, perhaps, on where there are issues that affect staff, which may be contributing to the statistics that he has outlined.

Minister, what are you doing to give rural communities their fair share? People in those communities are, very often, furthest from critical services such as hospitals, and have to travel on some of the worst roads in the country in order to access services?

As the Member will know, I serve a large rural Constituency. There is no doubt that many of the roads in south Armagh and in Armagh city are in a dire state. I travel on them every day, so I know just how bad things are. Rural roads make up about 75% of the entire road network and, therefore, a significant proportion of the overall budget for structural and essential maintenance will be targeted towards those roads. I have set out very strongly when working with officials that we need to properly invest in our rural roads, albeit from a constrained financial position. That is something that I am very keen to do, in conjunction with all the work that we are doing on our road maintenance strategy and to address the issues that have had an impact on our roads. In addition, we will use the digital survey in order to properly inform officials as to where we need to target resources.

That is key, particularly in more rural areas where, in the past, we have had to rely on staff to go out and inspect roads when a defect has been reported. That data is now readily available to us, and we have to make sure that we use it efficiently and effectively. As I said in my previous response, we also have to increase our workforce to increase our capacity. That is how we will build in long-term resilience so that, even without additional funding, we can make a real difference.

Last year, I invested £9 million in the roads recovery fund, which targets more rural areas, recognising the challenges that our rural communities face. I want to continue in that vein. I want to continue to enhance the funding that we can allocate, particularly in rural areas, because I know how important that is for those communities. They feel, rightly, that they have been left behind for many years, since long before my time, in essence because we have had to target A-class roads due to the lack of investment not just in my budget but that of the whole Executive.

We move on to topical questions.