'The roads are literally wrecking cars', claims senator

The state of Cavan Monaghan roads was undermining cars and causing NCT failures, claimed Aontú Senator Sarah O’Reilly.

She made the comments in the Seanad with the Minister of State, as she warned of the worsening condition of roads in this constituency and stressing that funding is "nowhere near enough" to tackle "years of neglect".

“Our roads are so battered that people’s stomachs turn at the thought of driving them. Money might have gone up on paper, but it’s not stretching the same. We’re maintaining the same number of kilometres as we were ten years ago, even though the funding has almost tripled. Inflation has eaten the increase.”

She highlighted the surge in traffic nationally, with over a million more vehicles on Irish roads since 2015.

“We have a million more cars on the road than we did in 2015 and it’s not a coincidence that Cavan has the highest NCT failure rate in the country. Steering and suspension issues are soaring because the roads are literally wrecking cars.”

Senator O'Reilly said current levels of funding are simply patching over the problem and it needs to be urgently increased.

"In Cavan we saw a shortfall in funding of €95 million for road maintenance between 2008 and 2023. The Government must appreciate that when you see such a significant drop in funding for 15 years that any maintenance following this will be patchwork at best. I'm asking you Minister to commit to increased funding for roads in Cavan Monaghan"