Wexford loses out on additional €1m funding for road repairs – ‘We’re faced with an impossible task here’
Wexford PeopleHopes that Co Wexford motorists could enjoy stress-free journeys this winter have been dashed after it was revealed the local council has not received supplementary funding to repair and resurface the county’s roads. In previous years Wexford County Council (WCC) had received up to €1m additional funding from central government to carry out works on roads with uneven surfaces and potholes, however, that money will not be issued in 2025.
Speaking at the October meeting of WCC, Cllr Ger Carthy expressed his disappointment at the lack of supplementary funding coming Wexford’s way.
“Historically we would have received €1m or more, but that seems to have been guillotined,” he said. “This is cold comfort for the people who are driving on very poor roads across the county every day.”
Fellow Rosslare councillor, Jim Codd, was in agreement and said the news would come as a hammer blow to already overstretched council crews.
“In our district we have six crews of 2-3 men maintaining 650km of roads,” he said. “Not only are they maintaining roads that are falling apart, they’re often taken off those jobs to resurface, rebuild, and do drainage works elsewhere; these crews have to be left to do the work on the roads, yet all summer they’re taken away to do other jobs.
"Can we write to the minister to highlight the impossible task we’re faced with here?”
Sharing the councillors’ disappointment, director of services Eamonn Hore said he remained hopeful that Wexford’s annual budget for roads would increase for 2026.
Separately, Cllr Carthy asked whether the council had received the results of its traffic review on Wexford town’s ring roads.
“A survey was done to see what tailbacks we could address at the New Ross roundabout,” replied Mr Hore. “We have a lot of information on the traffic numbers from those surveys and we will be able to share that in the coming weeks.”