Road Network
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

I agree with the Minister on two fronts. Local authority staff in Cavan and Monaghan are doing a huge amount of work and are getting efficient use out of the funding that is allocated in terms of the road programme. The second area is that councillors across all political parties and all local Oireachtas Members agree that the funding in place is nowhere near sufficient in order to deal with the issues.
There are a number of different problems. The road network deteriorated as a result of cutbacks following the financial crash and costs have increased substantially. The increases we have seen, even in recent years, come nowhere close to addressing that. In Monaghan, for example, in real terms, the extra allocation was about €1 million last year vis-à-vis the two years in terms of actual funding provided. Well over €400,000 of that - it was actually closer to €500,000 in Monaghan - had to be spent on speed limit signs because of the new speed limits. The situation is that more roads are in need of urgent repair than ever before.
The Minister said he cannot give the actual figures. Will there be a substantial increase in the 2026 allocations?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15