Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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I agree with everything that Senator Tully said. I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber today, but I am disappointed that the Minister for Transport is not here. I have been trying to get a debate with him on this issue but he is proving to be elusive. I want to thank the Minister of State for engaging on this important matter.

I want to focus on a matter that affects every commuter, farmer, small business and family in Cavan and Monaghan, that is, the ongoing deterioration of our roads and particularly our rural road network. In my constituency, the condition of the roads is just awful. They are really poor. Anyone driving a tractor, lorry or bus in the area could be forgiven for thinking they are on a boat with all of the rocking and rolling, as well as the potholes, patched parts and sinking roads.

Earlier this year, I welcomed the announcement of an 11% increase in funding for rural roads in Cavan and Monaghan, but the reality is that this increase does not come close to addressing the shortfall in funding between 2008 and 2023. That is where the real problem lies. We experienced a €95 million shortfall in the road development and maintenance in our county during those years. That shortfall has never been replaced. At the moment, our roads start to crumble if we get a little bit of frost or bad weather.

I am sure the Minister of State can appreciate that, due to such a significant drop in funding for 15 years, carrying out maintenance is like papering over cracks. Government investment does not match the increase in costs either. In 2015, local authorities spent €48 million maintaining 361 km of regional roads. In 2024, despite spending €117 million, nearly two and a half times more, the number of kilometres maintained stayed the same. Costs have outpaced investment. This means that every euro buys less road maintenance than before.

How are the roads in Cavan going to improve when fewer kilometres are being maintained? When I started on the council in 2017, we were overlaying and doing maintenance on 23 km of roads in my municipal district. We did 11 km last year. I know that the funding is increasing, but it is not even matching the cost of inflation. Despite funding for the municipal district rising from €1.2 million to €3.5 million, the number of kilometres has reduced. Does the Minister of State understand that we have gone from 23 km down to 11 km a year? That is not good enough. That is a reduction of approximately 50% in the number of kilometres maintained at a time when the wear and tear on our roads has increased dramatically.

We have 1 million more vehicles on the roads today than we had in 2015. That is more cars, SUVs, lorries, and commercial vehicles. It will come as no surprise to the Minister of State that Cavan has the highest NCT failure rate in the country. The failure rate is predominantly due to steering and suspension issues. That is as a result of the poor condition of our roads. It is no coincidence that vehicles are failing where the roads are at their worst.

As Senator Tully said, people pay motor tax, fuel tax and tolls. The very least they should expect is a decent road surface to get to work on. There are roads in my area where school bus drivers, postal workers and delivery people refuse to go down because they are too bad. The Government is literally and politically patching over the problem. We need serious, sustained investment to address the backlog and restore our roads to a safe standard.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Reilly for raising this issue. I hope she is enjoying her stay in the Seanad. It is great to see people who have been on local authorities coming into the Seanad. I know that Members come from diverse backgrounds, but people like her bring that experience and knowledge in here. I can see that she is familiar with what is happening in her county and constituency. It is great that she can bring that knowledge here to the floor of the Seanad.

I was a member of my local authority when I got elected to the Seanad. The abolition of the dual mandate then came in. While I believe the abolition of the dual mandate was correct, it sometimes takes Members away from their local authorities. It is great to see the Senator here.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important topic with Members of the House on behalf of the Minister for Transport. The Senator’s question relates to the number of kilometres of regional rural roads being maintained each year. As the Senator is aware, and as outlined in the 2025 regional and local roads programme, the Government is strongly committed to protecting the existing road network. It is important to highlight that the improvement and maintenance of the regional and local road network is the statutory responsibility of each local authority. Works on these roads are funded from the councils' own resources and are supplemented by State road grants.The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for the local authority.

There has been a significant increase in Exchequer funding in recent years, with an Exchequer investment of €713 million in our regional and local roads this year. This represents an increase of 25% in funding when compared to 2021. The cost of doing the roads has gone up since 2021. There is a case to be made in that regard, and it is one I make myself representing Sligo-Leitrim and south Donegal. I come from Roscommon and we represent a bit of Cavan as well so I understand the issues.

Because of the pressures on the regional and local road network, the primary focus of investment is on the protection and renewal of that road network, which plays a critical role in supporting economic and community links throughout the country. The Senator mentioned postmen and buses. That is an issue we must be aware of. Funding for these grant types is allocated based on the length of the road network within a local authority's area of responsibility with some account taken of traffic. It is envisaged that grants will continue to be made available on this basis as it is the most equitable approach.

The Department appreciates that within the overall parameters set for the regional and local road grant programme, local authorities might need to target funding at particular problem areas. There is sufficient flexibility in the structure of the grant programme to allow for this. It is also open to each local authority to allocate its own resources to priority areas. In this context, the Department has supported the development of a road asset management system for regional and local roads - MapRoad - to provide the data needed for each local authority to manage its network as effectively as possible, including the prioritisation of works for inclusion in its maintenance and renewal works programme. The road pavement condition information generated by the MapRoad system forms the basis for the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, performance reports each year. In 2024, the Department provided funding for 3,038 km of pavement sealing on the regional and local road network and 2,256 km of road strengthening works.

It should be noted that Exchequer funding for regional and local roads is intended to supplement realistic contributions from local authorities’ own resources. As the statutory road authorities for their areas, it is open to local authorities to prioritise investment towards regional and local roads. I hear what the Senator is saying and I will certainly bring her very important views back to the Minister.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply but the response will be no consolation to the people of Cavan. Inflation has eroded the value of road funding and that has resulted in fewer kilometres of road being maintained. In 2022 and 2023, the price of bitumen increased by 62%. That is not being allowed for in the allocations of money from the Department.

Inflation is not an unforeseen crisis. It has been a consistent pressure for years, yet funding levels have not been adjusted in a way that protects the actual output on the ground. How does the Department plan to address the €95 million deficit in the years between 2008 and 2023? A decade and a half of underinvestment cannot be solved with minor annual uplifts. We are simply not going to see the roads in Cavan and Monaghan improve. That is the truth.

We need a commitment to restore the number of kilometres maintained annually to pre-deficit levels, as well as an increase in funding that matches inflation and meets the demands of our road network, which now supports nearly 3 million vehicles. This additional traffic also has to be taken into account but I do not think it has been.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Our vast and interconnected road network is essential to connecting people, businesses and communities, so we must continue to protect it. We have come a long way. When I was elected in 1999, the road network was particularly bad. I remember travelling on one national road and changing my tires every three months. We are in a much better place but the Senator is right that more needs to be done. She raised the increase in the price of bitumen, which went up by 62%. This has to be factored in. That is what this is about. That is what local authorities are about. They feed into the Department and the Department feeds into the Exchequer. When the economy is robust, there is money to spend. I believe that more funding should be allocated for local and regional roads. It is something I will be fighting for as well. I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. There is more traffic on the roads. They are a lot safer than they were but we need to do more.