To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail the amount spent by her Department on temporary road repairs, in each of the last five years, broken down by local council area.

My Department always seeks to undertake a first time permanent repair within the target repair times, however it may occasionally be necessary to carry out an initial repair in temporary material in advance of planning a separate visit for a permanent repair, for example on a busy junction. In addition, out of hours responses may require an initial repair in temporary material in advance of a permanent repair. The cost for repairing potholes falls within the Department’s budget for patching. This term is applied to small scale works necessary to keep roads in a satisfactory state of repair, including infilling potholes but also the repair of small areas affected by cracking or settlement, as such it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the cost attributable solely to pothole repairs, including those of a temporary nature.

I have recently allocated an additional £7.85 million funding to help mitigate the impacts that recent winter weather conditions have had on our road network. This will be used to deliver an enhanced structural maintenance programme including large scale patching and resurfacing targeted at those areas of greatest need across the north. This work will commence without delay.