Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I want to talk about the condition of the 3,522 km of non-national roads in County Wexford. I will give some background. We have the tenth greatest length of non-national roads in the country, just after counties Cork, Clare, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon and Tipperary. The non-national roads network is broken down into four separate categories: regional roads; local primary roads; local secondary roads; and local tertiary roads. In County Wexford, the breakdown making up the 3,522 km is: 529 km of regional roads; 865 km of local primary roads; 1,482 km of local secondary roads; and 646 km of local tertiary roads.

Four national surveys have been carried out to categorise the condition of these roads. In 1995, the first such comparative countrywide study of non-national roads placed Wexford in the lowest grouping, having the poorest overall condition. Ten years later in 2005, a survey placed Wexford and Donegal as the only two counties to rank in the bottom grouping. Despite an almost 20% improvement between 2004 and 2011, the 2011 survey of the condition of regional roads ranked Wexford with Offaly and Mayo as the only three counties with 25% of regional roads requiring reconstruction.

The issue is that the funding is not reflective of road condition. No matter what way we look at studies, funding is allocated on a per kilometre basis and not on a roads condition basis. Since 2008, funding has been cut significantly. Since 2008, County Wexford has had a deficit of €66 million. This is not my first time to stand on the floor of the House and ask for that amount to be given to Wexford to improve the condition of the roads. Addressing that significant 30% deficit in funding would go a long way to help bring Wexford up in the categories.

If we are to be serious, we need to stop asking why we have so many road deaths.

In recent weeks, I have seen flooding, aquaplaning and surface water on roads in County Wexford. It is a very serious issue. We are talking about basic maintenance here and there is no money for drainage. Wexford County Council, to its credit and that of the chief roads engineer, Eamonn Hore, who is also the director of services, is well managed. Our engineers do their best but I have been out and around for months and I have never seen anything like the damage this winter's weather has caused.

In January, the director of services at Wexford County Council sent a letter to the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I have it in my hand. It is extensive and includes various appendices to prove what it says. The first point is significant. It states that if the council received €194 million, all roads could be brought up to standard. As much as I would like to say we should get €194 million, we definitely need to address the deficit. For proper planning, to look after road safety as we should and to ensure that people are able to have their vehicles pass the NCT, roads funding to Wexford County Council must increase by between €5 million and €10 million per annum. We need to plan to bring our roads up to standard in the next ten years. We would see a huge improvement in road safety. In the past six months, we have seen a huge increase in road accidents.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I sincerely thank Deputy Murphy for bringing up this issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this topic with Members on behalf of the Minister for Transport.

I understand that the Deputy’s question primarily relates to the current system for calculating funding allocations for the protection and renewal of the regional and local road network. I will provide some information for clarity. I know Deputy Murphy is all too familiar with it. I will then deal with the specifics on funding, if that is agreeable to the Deputy. I will run through it as quickly as I can.

As outlined in the 2024 regional and local roads programme released on 15 February this year, the Government is strongly committed to protecting the existing regional and local road network. This facilitates business, education, tourism, healthcare, agriculture and the provision of critical services and activities. The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads are the statutory responsibility of each local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from councils' own resources, supplemented by State road grants.

Ireland's regional and local road network spans over 96,000 km. The network requires significant funding to ensure it remains fit for purpose, safe and resilient. As such, €658 million was allocated to regional and local road grants in 2024, with approximately 90% of this funding being directed towards maintenance and renewal works. This funding supports local authorities in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities.

Due to the vast scale of the network, the Department of Transport employs an array of grant types to ensure investment is targeted across the network, from supporting scheduled maintenance works to funding climate adaptation projects, which aims to build resilience in the road network against severe weather events.

Within the budget available to the Department, State grant funding is allocated on as fair and equitable a basis as possible to ensure that all local authorities are in receipt of funds to maintain the network. The allocation of the three biggest Exchequer grant types, namely, restoration maintenance, restoration improvement and discretionary grants, is based on the length of regional and local roads within a local authority's area, with additional weighting based on contributing traffic factors in specific areas.

The rationale for this approach is that it is objective, it avoids onerous administrative and monitoring burdens on both local authorities and the Department of Transport and, critically, it avoids any perverse incentives that might arise if another basis were used. For example, providing higher levels of Exchequer funding where road quality is lower could create a disincentive for local authorities to devote own resource funding towards achieving a high-quality network. As mentioned, each local authority is legally responsible for ensuring its network is maintained and improved.

This approach also means that, while central government is supplying significant funding, we are acknowledging that local authorities themselves are best placed to make determinations in their areas for maximum delivery of results. Indeed, the initial selection and prioritisation of maintenance and renewal works are matters for each local authority. There is flexibility within the State grant programme for councils to direct resources to address particular problems identified on their networks as they see fit.

We encourage local authority officials, be they from Wexford or otherwise, to contribute in that manner. I have no doubt that if additional State funding is required, that case can be made and Deputy Murphy has made it very eloquently here this evening. I am more than prepared to pass that on. Responsibility lies with the Minister and the statutory agency and it requires a bit of work. Perhaps a meeting organised by the Deputy between a deputation from Wexford County Council and the Minister responsible with officials of the State agency would be in order. I would be more than happy to write in support of that proposal after this evening's engagement.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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That is probably what is required. I appreciate what the Minister of State read out and that he is standing in for the Minister. I will give him some examples of where it seems Wexford is being disadvantaged vis-à-vis other counties. This is how rural counties fared in the 2011 road conditioning survey as regards. At that point, the percentage of roads in Wexford to be reconstructed stood at 29%. Other counties with fewer than 10% of roads to be reconstructed received much the same funding. The rates wee 2.6% in Louth, 9% in Limerick, 4.2% in Monaghan, 8.6% in Carlow, and 8.4% in Westmeath. There is another half a dozen counties with rates lower than 10%.

The Minister of State indicated that allocations are as fair and equitable as possible. No, it is not and I will tell the Minister of State why. The director of services and chief roads engineer, Eamonn Hore, went to great lengths in his letter to explain to the Minister where it is not fair and equitable. The regional road per kilometre in the PCI rating - the pavement surface condition index - stated that the national average is 3%. In Wexford, we are at 7.47%. As regards the total local primary road with PCI rating 1 and 4, the national average is 6% and Wexford is at 25.56%. As regards the total local secondary road with PCI rating 1 to 4, the national average is 10% and Wexford is at 38.72%. When we come to the tertiary road with the PCI rating 1 to 4, the national average is 19% and Wexford is at 38.86%. There is nothing equitable about it. I very much appreciate that the Minister of State will pass on a request for a meeting because that is what is required. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that road conditioning is not contributing to road accidents. It is as simple as this - 30% of Wexford roads need reconstruction. That figure is way above the national average and that has to be addressed.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I again thank Deputy Murphy and reassure her that the Government is fully committed to the protection and renewal of our new road network in each of the counties in the jurisdiction of the State. The Department believes the methodology is an equitable and proportionate approach that allows fairness and transparency throughout the process and also prevents unintended consequences. I fully appreciate the points made by the Deputy. I understand them and her frustration. I fully appreciate that the issue has been communicated directly to the Minister by the director of services. I believe there needs to be direct engagement between the director of services and the Minister. As I said, I am more than happy to write in support of that engagement following our discussion this evening. I hope that can be achieved after the St Patrick's Day recess.