The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, has announced funding of more than €1.5bn under the National Road Programme for this year.
The fund covers work on all national roads, including the roll-out of the inter-urban network which links the capital to towns and cities all over the country.
Billed by the Government as the largest single annual investment in road infrastructure in the history of the State, the National Roads Programme will see work take place on 673 individual projects in the coming year.
Under Transport 21 work will begin on 215km of new roads.
It will fund new developments on the M3 in Meath, N6 in Galway, M7 in Laois, and the M9 in Waterford and will also prioritise the speeding up of works on the M50.
Phase one of the upgrade of the Dublin motorway is already under way and the second and third phases of work will begin this year.
€21 million of the annual budget for national roads has been allocated specifically for spending on road safety measures.
