Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. It is our second time to discuss roads in Cavan. I appreciate his dedication to the cause.

An announcement for additional funding was made last week due to damage caused by Storm Chandra in January 2026. Monaghan received €900,000, which is a good thing. Roads were severely affected and the funding is badly needed. However, I cannot understand why Cavan got nothing. Did Cavan County Council apply for funding? The storm did not stop at the border. The same rain fell in Cavan. The same flooding happened. Roads were washed away, collapsed or were closed for days. Communities were cut off. Farmers could not get around. Businesses suffered. In my area people took long detours for a week when the R191 Cootehill to Bailieborough road was closed. People had to take long detours just to get to school.

The Department said that inspections carried out in March 26 found around 130 roads needed complete reconstruction, 440 had significant damage and several bridges could no longer be used. I believe those figures cover the entire country. My question is simple. How were the decisions made? What criteria were used? If Monaghan qualified for funding, why did Cavan not qualify? The people in Cavan deserve an explanation for this.

I have taken information from the Northern Sound website. The R212 Ballyhaise Road was flooded and closed. The R191 road from Cootehill to Bailieborough was impassible, closed for four days and flooded in five sections. The R552 road from Elteen to Ballyhaise was closed. The R191 Bailieborough to Kells road was impassible. Some 120 ESB customers in Bailieborough and 1,429 in Cootehill were without power. There were 1,083 customers without power in Shercock and 717 people without power in Virginia. Darley school, St. Michael's school and St. Aidan's school were closed.

The Government often talks about preparing for more extreme weather but this is what preparation looks like. It means making sure that local authorities have the funding they need when the damage is done. It is about prevention. Once this happens it will continue to happen. We want to try to stop that from happening again.

I have tabled Commencements for the Minister for Transport and he has never once come to the Chamber. I have yet to see him here. I am not saying he has not been here, but I have yet to see him. I am beginning to think it was something I said and I would not like to think that because the people of Cavan deserve to have their questions answered by the Minister. Can the Minister of State explain the criteria used in March to assess the roads and how that will look in respect of the case for further funding for Cavan?