The National Roads Programme is not likely to be finished until 2010, four years behind schedule, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said today.
The programme, set out in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2000 - 2006, will require an extra €15.25 billion on top of the €4 billion that has already been spent to be completed, the CIF estimated in its mid-term review.
The CIF called on the National Roads Authority to produce a seven-year strategy to address the problem and said the Government should provide the NRA with a three year rolling budget to allow it to plan accordingly.
The Director General of the CIF, Mr Liam Kellegher, said the Government would have to consider other forms of generating revenue, such as using Government bonds, Central Bank reserves and public private partnerships because current revenues cannot address the infrastructural deficit over the next 20 years.
"This is obviously a serious issue, it's not a figure that comes out of the air," he said.
The CIF also said it supported the proposal by the ESRI for a suspension of contributions to the National Pensions Reserve Fund to pay for capital spending.
The report also said the Government must implement its plans to franchise at least 25 per cent of Dublin Bus routes to create a competitive environment for public transport.
Labour Party transport spokeswoman, Ms Roisin Shortall, described the CIF report as "an appalling indictment of the political leadership behind the National Development Plan."
"There is no better illustration of the Government's failure to improve national infrastructure than the shocking state of Ireland's roads. The relative economic prosperity of recent years may have resulted in people affording many more Mercedes Benz's, but they are still driving along third-world type roads," she added.