Road Projects
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-27
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I thank Senator O'Reilly again. I will pass on her feedback and comments to the Minister and Department and raise with the Minister the fact that she has raised this significant issue in Cavan and Monaghan and is seeking additional funding.
As regards the response from the Department, it outlines the level of funding for this year, which was announced in February, with €19 million for Cavan and €17 million for Monaghan. It also outlines that funding for the upkeep and renewal of roads is allocated on a per kilometre basis nationally. It depends on the number of kilometres of road in each county. Nationally, this year, we saw a €26 million increase for road protection and renewal across the country, which meant there was €718 million available. That sum was then allocated on a per kilometre basis.
I am not sure of any fairer way to allocate this funding. It has long been the Department's position regarding how roads are maintained. County councils also have capacity within their own resources, which I accept are always stretched and there are many competing interests, to decide on how they allocate their resources and whether any additional amount is given to road maintenance. That is at the discretion of the local authority.
The Senator is seeking additional funding and she outlined the pressure on the road system in both Cavan and Monaghan. I will relay that to the Minister and Department.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-27