2026-05-27

I wish the Minister of State a good morning. I want to speak about roads funding following Storm Chandra in counties Wexford and Wicklow, or, should I say, the lack of roads funding. It was literally this day four months ago, namely 27 January, that Storm Chandra arrived on our shores and caused absolute havoc for people, for their homes and for the roads of the south east. At the time, it was absolutely shocking. Here we are, and there is a sense of déjà vu for me because this is my fourth time to come to the House to ask for additional funds to facilitate repairs to the roads following that storm. I am totally frustrated. I genuinely feel that I and Wicklow and Wexford county councils are being given the runaround. What is happening is simply unacceptable. When you drive from Hook Head to Bray or from Brittas Bray into Coolkenno, you will see first hand what is going on. We are dealing with dangerous roads. Some of these roads are blocked and some have massive potholes. The general consensus is that it is a serious health and safety risk at this stage. Wexford County Council is looking for in excess of €20 million. Wicklow County Council is looking for €15 million. These sums are needed, because what we do not want is a sticking-plaster solution. We do not want someone coming around and filling potholes. We want these roads properly cleared off and a proper waterproof surface applied to them. We need this done now. Why are we being pushed around from one Department to another and still not getting a response? I spoke directly with engineers in the counties regarding their frustration. Again, I stress that this is a huge health and safety issue. It does not matter where you go. I drove from Gorey to Tullow on Sunday. I came back at dusk. There are unmarked roads with potholes on them. Somebody has to stand up in this House and be accountable for the lack of action on this matter. It may not be Deputy Brian Brennan, but as sure as night follows day there will be a TD in some other constituency who will stand up here next January or February following another storm and looking for the exact same thing. Why is there not a policy in place? The CEOs of Wexford and Wicklow county councils were assured that they could go ahead, fix their roads and that the funding would follow. Four months have passed and not one cent of additional funding has been received. This has to be treated as an emergency. If it is not, we will be dealing with a tragedy or a serious injury caused by the state of these roads. Barriers have been put up but these barriers have now been removed by locals because they need to get access to their homes and lands. It is simply unfair, and I just cannot understand why this is being pushed from the Department of finance to the Department that has responsibility for roads. It seems to be falling between two stools. I am ask for urgent action to be taken now.

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this matter. I have been asked to respond to him on behalf of the Minister for Transport on the issues he has raised here. Storm Chandra, as the Deputy outlined, brought severe winds, prolonged heavy rain and extensive flooding across multiple regions of the country. It caused significant disruption to our regional and local roads and communities, with the intense rainfall leading to several rivers bursting their banks and extensive surface flooding. More than 120 roads were rendered impassable and over 400 were reported to be significantly damaged. The local authorities in counties Wicklow and Wexford, among others, reported high levels of damage and the need for the provision of additional funding to remediate it. The Government is committed to continuing to protect our regional and local roads network. This is known to be fundamental in connecting our people and communities and facilitates access to business, education and healthcare, as well as the provision of other critical services. Our regional and local road network spans over 96,000 km, and each local authority is statutorily responsible for the maintenance and improvement of the regional and local roads within their area of responsibility. All work undertaken is funded from their own resources and supplemented by the regional and local roads grant programme operated by the Department of Transport. It is also the role of local authorities to prioritise the investment in and work on their regional and local roads. The funding provided via the regional and local roads grant programme is intended to supplement realistic contributions from each local authority. It is also advised that each local authority sets aside a contingency from its allocation from the Department of Transport and its own resources for severe weather events that might take place. Allocations from this grant programme were communicated to local authorities on 17 February. In total, €718 million was made available this year to eligible local authorities for their regional and local roads. This was an increase in funding on 2025 and facilitated an increase of €26 million for road protection and renewal works. Because of the pressures on the regional and local road network, the primary focus for capital investment under the regional and local road grant programme is on the maintenance and renewal of the network, the implementation of the strategic regional and local road projects identified for development - subject to necessary approvals - in the national development plan and targeted minor safety schemes across the regional and local road network. Wexford County Council was allocated over €23 million, with the majority of this amount determined to be spent on the protection and renewal of County Wexford’s regional and local road network. Wicklow County Council was allocated almost €15 million, again for protection and renewal. In both cases, the allocation for 2026 was higher than that of 2025. The Department of Transport's grant funding for regional and local roads is determined on as equitable a basis as possible to eligible local authorities. This is based on the length of the road network in the local authority area. The Department has liaised with those local authorities impacted by Storm Chandra to assess the damage and remediation needed. Means to address the additional costs to local authorities are under consideration. The most pertinent part of the reply is the last couple of lines, which indicate that means to address the additional costs for local authorities are under consideration. The Deputy outlined very clearly the asks from Wicklow and Wexford County Councils and the specifics in relation to the damage done to both counties. I recall that, thankfully, my part of the country, for once, escaped the brunt of this but it was quite acute in those counties. I remember seeing the scenes at the time and the damage that still pertains from that can be very much seen, as the Deputy outlined. Certainly, after the Deputy raising it here today, I will relay his frustration in relation to the fact that there is not an answer yet on the request for additional funding. The Department is indicating that it is under consideration. Obviously, while it is under consideration, the roads remain to be fixed in some instances. That is something that the Deputy is very keen to have addressed. I will relay that back to the Department and ask it to follow up promptly with the Deputy and with the county councils in Wicklow and Wexford to bring this matter to a conclusion.

I welcome the Minister of State's reply. I note and respect it. As he stated clearly, they are getting substantial funding, but even prior to the storm, we felt that the funding was not enough, given that they are two quite rural counties. They are two beautiful counties but we have serious issues with roads. We felt we were underfunded before this, but what this is all about now is additional funding. That is the key. We did not feel we had enough of a budget before the storm, and that has now been exacerbated. We simply have a huge shortfall. Councillors are ringing me on a daily basis and telling me that they are getting it full on from their constituents - the people in their towns and villages - that their roads are simply impassable five months on from a storm. It is ironic that we are here on one of the hottest days of the year discussing storms, which is wrong. As sure as night follows day, some other county will be in this situation. There should be a clear strategy within Government, rather than it being pushed from the Departments of Finance and roads, to be able to deal with these issues immediately. To be fair to the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, he came down and addressed the flooding in Aughrim and Enniscorthy. He dealt with it within weeks, if not months, but we are now standing here five months to the date it happened. I hope that no other TD will have to go through what the TDs in Wicklow and Wexford have gone through. I note that Carlow and Louth have similar issues as well. This should be addressed and there should be a clear strategy in place because this is going to happen again. It is wrong. We need to get this addressed and we also need to sit down and have a long-term solution because this will happen again in other counties. It is unfair to the people living in these areas. They have suffered enough stress due to the storm. Why should they be waiting months and months?

I understand the challenging situation in which everyone in the Deputy's county finds themselves and, indeed, the challenge that presents for its Deputies as public representatives as well to seek to address and have this remedied. The reply that I have given on behalf of the Department of Transport and the Minister outlines the funding that was provided this year, namely, €23 million to Wexford County Council and €15 million to Wicklow County Council, which was up on the previous year. It is clear from the response provided to me that that funding was meant to address ongoing work. The figures that the Deputy has indicated to me in terms of the additional ask are very similar in scale to the level of funding provided to both counties this year for roads generally, so it is a very significant ask. Obviously, it reflects very significant damage. The response from the Department also outlines that it is expected of local authorities that they hold a certain amount of the funds they receive in contingency for exceptional cases. I do not know how much that is in any particular county. I would imagine it is quite small and is nowhere near the scale of what is being discussed here, certainly not what the Deputy has outlined. The request to the Department is similar in scale to what the ongoing level of investment would be in terms of maintenance and development of roads, so it is very significant and would certainly speak to being a lot more than what could be managed within any ongoing contingency fund. There have been a number of instances over the last number of years of damage in both counties as a result of floods. It is important that that the request to the Department from both local authorities in terms of the remediation be assessed. The Department of Transport has said in this response that it is under consideration. It is important that clarity be brought to that. The Deputy has expressed the frustration felt about how that has not happened yet. I will relay that back fairly clearly to the Department and ask it to engage further with both local authorities.