To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail (i) what progress has been made to repair the areas highlighted in the Ards Peninsula Seawalls Condition and Repair Cost Report, HSU/657/02, published March 2018; and (ii) whether she will include in her bid for capital monies for 2021/22 additional investment to address the outstanding areas of seawalls and roads impacted by coastal erosion that have not yet been replaced.

Since the publication of the Ards Peninsula Seawalls Condition and Repair Cost Report, my Department has invested £320,000 during the 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years to provide repairs at:

fifteen separate locations along the Portaferry Road;

Shore Road, Kircubbin;

Shore Road, Ballyhalbert; and

Springvale Road, Ballyhalbert.

During the current financial year, work has commenced to provide repairs at:

two locations on the Quintin Bay Road;

one location on the Kearney Road; and

three locations on the Loughshore Road, Portaferry.

Work is also scheduled to commence shortly at Shore Road, Kircubbin. The estimated costs of these schemes is around £180k.

I will be engaging with my Executive colleagues on the forthcoming Budget process; when I have certainty on the funding available to me, I will consider future programmes to properly maintain the road network and this will include investment to address the outstanding areas of seawalls and roads impacted by coastal erosion that have not yet been replaced.