‘Shocking’ as Tipperary district runs out of road patching budget with months left in year
One Tipperary district has run out of funding for road patching work for the remainder of the year, prompting claims the situation is “shocking”.
At the July meeting of the Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District, district engineer Michael Scully told councillors that all the funds for the patching unit for this year had already been used up.
A road patching unit is a specialised machine that cuts out damaged sections of road and replaces them with new material, helping extend the life of a road before full resurfacing is required.
“Our original allocation for the patching unit has been exhausted from using it last year and early this year. I would have issue with the amount that was allowed to us to use it for.
“We have half of winter left ahead of us and my budget is blown on it,” Mr Scully said.
Fianna Fáil councillor Kieran Bourke said that the fact that the budget for the patching unit was used up so early in the year was “shocking” and reflects badly on the Department of Transport, the council’s road section, and the Government.
“It’s alarming that we’re into the summer and our sticking plaster for our roads, the budget for it is exhausted. I think that’s shocking, and it’s damning on the Department of Transport,” Cllr Bourke said.
Senior engineer Kieran Malone said that, while he would love to have the patching unit out more often, Carrick-on-Suir wasn’t the only district in the county facing the same issue.
“The budgets for 2026 are all allocated, we just don’t have any extra money to go out at the moment, so it’s just a matter of managing the budgets that are there,” he said.
“At any of the district meetings that I’ve been at it’s a similar situation again where councillors would like to see patching units out more often than they are, but each district is under pressure with their budgets. It’s not confined to Carrick, it’s across all five of the districts.
“We’re not in a position to hand out any more money at the moment, whether it’s from the Department of Transport or central finance, everything we’ve been given is allocated and accounted for,” Mr Malone added.