€190m required to fix Wexford roads after 30-year funding failure
Wexford PeopleAn additional €190m in central government funding is required to bring the roads in Co Wexford to a “reasonably good standard”. Although Wexford County Council (WCC) will receive almost €24m from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) for road maintenance in 2026, director of services Eamonn Hore has stated that this doesn’t come close to meeting the required amount.
“It isn’t enough, that’s fairly obvious,” he said at the council’s budget meeting for 2026.
A further €6.5m will be designated for roads from the council’s own resources, but Mr Hore said significant investment was needed to restore and maintain roads which have been in a state of disrepair for many years.
“We need another €190m to get all our roads up to a reasonably good standard, so we’re significantly short,” he added.
He was responding to a query from Councillor Aoife Rose O’Brien who had previously stated her intention to write to Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien on a weekly basis until he addresses the deficit in funding for Wexford’s roads. Discussing Mr Hore’s revelation, the Sinn Fein councillor said Wexford had long been ignored by those in central government.
“Unfortunately, this is not a new issue. A report dating back to 2008 stated that Wexford roads had a deficit of €66m, meaning the Department of Transport has allowed our road conditions to continue to deteriorate, requiring an additional €124m over the past 17 years. This is an absolute insult to the people of Wexford who deserve adequate roads conditions.”
According to Cllr O’Brien the issues can be traced back even further, all the way to the 1990s.
"With 3,522km of non-national roads across the county, we are among the worst roads conditions nationally. These findings began 30 years ago, in 1995, the first such comparative countrywide study of non-national roads placed Wexford in the lowest grouping, having the poorest overall condition. The government’s continued failure to address our roads-crisis is completely unacceptable and I am calling for immediate action.”
As someone who travels on these roads every day, Cllr O’Brien said she is all too aware of the risks involved in navigating your way through potholed, riven, and uneven surfaces.
“It is heart breaking for the members of my community who contact me daily, requesting for emergency works to be completed. Our council’s hands are tied: we have an excellent director and locally, our district engineer does incredible work year-on-year, but with the funding we receive we see little improvement. I don’t envy their roles.
"It is becoming increasingly difficult for us as elected representatives to support our communities and provide safe road networks. The people of Wexford are being deprived of an integral system and it’s not good enough, the government should be outright ashamed.”