Road Projects
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
============================================================

Seán Canney (IND), Galway East

I thank the Deputy for his question, which concerns an issue he has been raising on an ongoing basis.
In accordance with section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, as amended, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority. Work on such roads is funded from councils' own resources, supplemented by State road grants. For 2026, €718 million was allocated through the regional and local roads grant programme for the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads, with approximately 90% of the funding allocated to road maintenance and renewal. This facilitated an increased funding allocation of €26 million this year for road protection and renewal works. That represents an increase of over 25% in funding compared with 2021.
Under the 2026 regional and local roads grant programme, Laois County Council was allocated more than €15 million for the maintenance and improvement of its regional and local roads, which is an increase of nearly €1 million compared with 2025. That funding will support the local authority in carrying out an extensive 2026 programme of maintenance and restoration. In addition, it will support various climate adaptation projects, bridge rehabilitation schemes and safety improvement works.
Within the budget available for the maintenance of regional and local roads, the objective is to allocate funding to eligible local authorities on as equitable a basis as possible, taking the length of the road network into account. The main focus of the grants continues to be the protection and renewal of roads.
In addition to keeping the regional and local roads network in good repair, targeted improvements are also prioritised. All projects put forward must comply with the requirements of the infrastructure guidelines and my Department's appraisal framework. Each project is assessed on a case-by-case basis, keeping available resources in mind. The 2026 allocation to Laois County Council includes funding of €500,000 for specific improvement grant schemes. Furthermore, on 1 July, I announced additional funding of €40 million to address the damage to roads as a result of Storm Chandra. The funding to Laois County Council under this additional package was €1 million.

---

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/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24