Road Projects Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-29 ============================================================ Robbie Gallagher (FF), Labour Panel Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach seo ar maidin. I thank the Minister of State for taking time out of his busy schedule to be here. We can all agree that our roads have taken a severe battering from incessant rain over the past number of months. Roads are badly damaged everywhere, from country, local and national roads to our streets and motorways. In addition to funding from local authorities' coffers, a sum of €718 million in State road grants has been allocated to local authorities for the improvement and maintenance of both regional and local roads around the country. That was before the war in Iran erupted, however, which has caused the price of diesel, petrol and home heating oil to hit our pockets. As the Minister of State will be aware, oil is a necessary component in bitumen and tar. It will no doubt have a severe impact on the cost of road maintenance and, by extension, the number of roads that can be repaired and maintained. Some local authorities have already reported price increases of approximately 25% for road maintenance materials. In many instances, they might not meet their targets this year as a result. In my area of Cavan and Monaghan, roads are in a critically poor state. For example, Monaghan has the second highest rural road network density in the country. Monaghan County Council has stated that it has experienced an approximate 25% increase in costs that it believes is directly attributed to the conflict and war in the Middle East. Monaghan County Council received €17 million from the Department of Transport this year for local and regional works, and it also contributed €5.8 million from its own coffers to repair those roads. More than a quarter of its total annual budget is dedicated to road maintenance. Local authorities use data from the pavement, surface and condition index, PSCI, to monitor the condition of local and regional roads. Roads are surveyed and given ratings from 1 to 10, with 1 being very poor and 10 being excellent. Based on the most recent data, almost 400 km of Monaghan's local and regional roads are categorised as being in very poor condition. These are roads that are susceptible to the formation of potholes. This is almost double the national average. The cost of fixing the 190 km of road needed to bring it down to the national average was previously estimated to cost €33 million, based on 2024 construction figures. However, due to rising inflation in the cost of materials and contractors, this figure is now estimated at approximately €46 million. That is an increase of €13 million in two years, which is staggering. I think the Minister of State will agree with me in that regard. The council says current funding levels are not sufficient to eliminate the maintenance backlog. County Cavan is in a similar situation. Funding of €234 million is needed to remediate the 1,140 km of road in this category. By contrast, the planned €55 million funding for road works on sections of the worst roads in the county seems like a drop in the ocean. As the conflict in the Middle East continues, so too will the uncertainty as to how this will negatively affect our budgets and the number of roads it will be possible to address. Clearly, we have a serious problem. The funding we have received to date, although welcome, is totally inadequate compared to the needs of both counties. From talking to the Minister of State's colleagues in County Cork, I am sure the situation there is somewhat similar. It is an issue that needs to be addressed. I look forward to the Minister of State's response. --- 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/2026-04-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-29