Independent TD for Wexford, Verona Murphy, has raised the issue of the roads funding model with the Minister for Transport on Thursday in Dáil Éireann as many roads around County Wexford are in dangerous condition and are in bad need of repair according to the Deputy.
Highlighting the issue in the Dáil, Deputy Murphy said “We (Co.Wexford) have the tenth greatest length of non-national roads in the country. 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.”
Deputy Murphy explained the problems with the current model of roads funding, “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. In a 2011 road conditioning survey, 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.”
Continuing, the Independent TD added “In recent weeks, I have seen flooding causing surface water which is posing a serious rick to motorists of aquaplaning on many 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 with what they get, but I have been out and around for months and I have never seen anything like the damage this winter’s weather has caused. There is €66 million owed in funding from previous years that must be forthcoming and a complete review of the future funding model based on existing reports must be implemented if things are ever to improve”.
In response, Minister Neale Richmond recommended that a meeting between Wexford County Council and the Minister would be in order & he arrange same.
