Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has called for urgent action after it emerged that up to a third of the roads built during the Celtic Tiger period are missing and a further third don’t appear to lead anywhere.
According to research carried out by officials in Mr Dempsey’s department some local authorities are unable to account for more than half of their roads.
“Those were heady days,” a source said. “We were building roads for fun. God knows where they ended up. Sure a bypass intended for Waterford turned up in the Tanaiste’s constituency in Donegal.”
Mr Dempsey said the figures were unacceptable. “What will we do when the EU finds out?” he asked. He called on anyone with information on the whereabouts of missing roads to contact the National Roads Authority (NRA).
An opposition spokesman said it was fitting that many roads led nowhere as “the Government doesn’t know where it is going either”.
