Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister listened to my Fianna Fáil councillors in Cavan County Council outline their particular concerns about the non-national road network in our county. I say again that Cavan and Monaghan are totally dependent on the road network. County Cavan has a very small proportion of national road network. I think 95% of the road network in County Cavan is classified as non-national; it is regional and local. Even when you travel the best motorways in the country now, the damage the heavy rainfall has done is evident. If the heavy rainfall that has been consistent for so many months in recent times is damaging exceptionally well constructed roads, you can just imagine the damage it is doing to our local roads, laneways and regional roads. I welcome the increases that this Government has given since 2020 for the non-national road network but I have to say it is not enough. There has unfortunately been a massive increase in road construction costs, which has whittled away the financial increase that the Minister has allocated to each local authority.

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