Road Network Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-17 ============================================================ Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this important issue. I know of his interest in the road infrastructure in the counties that he knows best, Cavan and Monaghan. He is a regular contributor, both here in the House and within the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, on this issue. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is unavailable today. He has asked me to convey his apologies to Senator Gallagher and to assure him that he will continue to engage with him on this. The Senator's question relates to the funding provided to local authorities for the maintenance of regional and local roads, particularly in the Cavan and Monaghan area. As the Senator is aware and as outlined in the 2025 regional and local roads programme, the Government is strongly committed to protecting the existing road network. It is important to highlight that the improvement and maintenance of the regional and local road network is the statutory responsibility of the local authorities in accordance with the Roads Act 1993. Works on these roads are funded from the council's own resources and are supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the local authority. As a former member of the local authority, I am sure Senator Gallagher is working with officials there to identify the priorities. Of these grants, the vast majority are targeted at the maintenance and renewal of the existing network, with the limited remaining funding invested in new roads and bridges or in road realignment, which is important from a road safety perspective and a way of reducing deaths and injuries on our roads. Unfortunately, we have seen a considerable spike in deaths and injuries on our roads but hopefully that is a spike and not a trend. There has been a significant increase in Exchequer funding in recent years, with an investment of €713 million in our regional and local roads this year. This represents an increase of 25% in funding when compared to 2021. The Senator makes the valid point that while the funding is increasing, costs are also increasing, so a 25% increase in funding is not yielding a commensurate increase in the kilometres of road covered. That is a well-made point and I will certainly bring it back to the Department and the Minister. Due to the pressures on the regional and local road network, the primary focus of investment is on the protection and renewal of the regional and local road network, which plays a critical role in supporting economic and community links throughout the country. The main regional and local road grant programmes are targeted at specific policy objectives, namely, pavement sealing to protect the road surface from water damage through restoration maintenance grants, and road strengthening based on pavement condition rating to lengthen the life of road pavements through restoration improvement grants. There is also a discretionary grant which allows for a range of activities, including pothole repairs, edge strengthening, renewal of signs and lines and winter maintenance. These three grant programmes account for most of the grant funding and are allocated based primarily on the length of the road network in a particular local authority area. It is envisaged that grants will continue to be made available on this basis as it is the most equitable approach. In 2025, Cavan County Council received an allocation of €19,193,150, which is an increase of €1,752,840 on its 2024 allocation, and Monaghan County Council received an allocation of €18,008,350, which is an increase of €1,751,255. In addition to funding allocations under the main regional and local road grant programmes, Monaghan County Council has received funding of €4,084,278 since 2020 and Cavan County Council received funding of €912,058 in 2024 for a number of pilot schemes relating to road materials. Further allocations have been provided for both councils in 2025. Following a mid-year review of regional and local road grant programme expenditure, local authorities were notified of an additional allocation of €10 million for their restoration improvement programmes. Cavan County Council received an allocation of €311,000 and Monaghan County Council received an allocation of €262,500. I know that Senator Gallagher was very involved in pushing to get that additional money for those two councils. He has had success so far and hopefully that will continue. This additional funding was welcomed by local authorities and was fully expended by year end. It should be noted that Exchequer funding for regional and local roads is intended to supplement realistic contributions from local authorities’ own resources. As the statutory road authorities for their areas, it is open to local authorities to prioritise investment towards regional and local roads. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-12-17