Wexford roads “need emergency assistance”

By Dan Walsh

Wexford’s Deputy Johnny Mythen (Sinn Féin) used Dáil Éireann Question Time on Thursday to raise the urgent need for increased Government funding for Wexford County Council to deal with the critical situation of the chronic structurally distressed roads within the county, as verified in a report by the Local Government Audit Service.

Deputy Mythen said; “The report states that since the start of measurements in 2014 Wexford has ranked bottom of the list for road conditions. A study by the National Oversight and Audit Commission in 2020 found that 31% of primary roads and 44% of secondary roads in County Wexford were structurally distressed and a cause for serious concern. As can be deducted from these figures, County Wexford is genuinely in need of emergency assistance on this matter. Will the Tánaiste consider the National Oversight and Audit Commission findings and examine the case for additional funding for Wexford County Council to deal with this serious situation?”

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar thanked Deputy Mythen for his question and replied; “The Minister for Transport will shortly be making allocations for the maintenance and restoration of local and regional roads. There will be an increase in the budget on last year, but I do not know how much of it will go to Wexford. There is a formula as to how that is determined. I appreciate the point the Deputy makes, and I will make the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, aware that he raised the issue in the House today.