101. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Transport the funding allocated for local road restoration to Cavan and Monaghan County Councils in 2025; and the funding allocation to both councils in 2026. [1246/26]

Sentiment score: 0.00

I have been in elected politics a long time and I have to say that the state of local roads generally has never been as bad in all of my time. It is evident not enough funding is being provided to local authorities. Will the Minister indicate how much funding was allocated to local authorities in my area, Cavan and Monaghan county councils, last year? What is the proposed allocation for 2026?

Sentiment score: 0.11

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?

Sentiment score: 0.19

No, but here is the difficulty. I have visited roads, including one that is close to the town of Ballybay and one close to Castleblayney, in recent weeks. The roads are in a terrible condition. From dealing with the local authority, the best it can do in the short term is patching work, which in many ways is economically crazy but it has to be done. The best-case scenario under the current trajectory is that it could take five or even six years before those roads will be properly restored. Here is the frustration of people in those areas: they have seen their cost of insurance increase; they are paying their road tax; they have seen the cost of petrol and diesel being increased by the Government on an annual basis; and, for those who have to travel to Dublin or elsewhere, their toll charges have increased. They are asking themselves what they are getting for all of this, if they cannot even drive to their local school without risking bursting the suspension on their car. I know the Minister cannot give the precise figures. Will there be a substantial increase in road funding so we can ensure that the programme for road maintenance and restoration will be accelerated in the coming months and years?

Sentiment score: 0.07