Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Cooney has questioned the Department of Transport about the level of funding allocated to County Clare in its €60 million Capital Investment Programme for national secondary roads across Ireland.
Deputy Cooney has written to Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Sean Canney to express his disappointment at the department’s decision to allocate just €408,000 to County Clare, which he said was one of the lowest per kilometre capital allocations in the country.
“I wish to convey my deepest disappointment in relation to the level of funding allocated to County Clare,” Deputy Cooney said in written correspondence to the Minister. “It is completely unclear to me how the assessment of what does and does not get funded has been made.”
He explained, “Clare’s National Secondary Road network is 184 km long, and includes the N67 from Kilimer through Kilrush, Kilkee and on up through Miltown Malbay and North Clare and into Galway; the N68 between Ennis and Kilrush; and the N85 between Ennis and Ennistymon. These are the primary routes for the people of West and North Clare to access the county town of Ennis and all the services therein, including medical, financial, shopping and sports and recreational. The routes also provide access to University Hospital Limerick, Shannon Airport and for many, they are the primary routes for commuting to work in Ennis, Shannon, Limerick, and Galway.”
“While many rural residents grudgingly accept the low population density results in lower levels of services and infrastructure, the least they can expect is that they would have a reasonable road to travel on when trying to access them in the main urban centres,” added the Clare TD. “These are also the primary access routes for the millions of tourists who visit West and North Clare annually, one of the principal drivers of the coastal and rural economy in Clare, including the Cliffs of Moher which we are continuously told is of critical national importance when it comes to marketing the island of Ireland internationally.”
“Clare has 184 km of National Secondary roads, representing the fifth largest National Secondary Road network in the country, but only received 408,000 under the recently announced Capital Investment programme,” he stated. “On a per kilometre capital allocation basis, Clare has been allocated just €2,218 per km, the 5th lowest in the country, while Kerry was allocated nearly €21,000 per km, Galway County €7,500 per km, Mayo €32,000 per km, and Cork County €32,000 per km. Donegal has been allocated €43,000 per Km, Roscommon €11,500 per km, Tipperary €6,000 per km, and Laois just €1,268 per km. Louth received the highest allocation at €108,000 per km.”
According to Deputy Cooney, “Every right-minded person who travels these roads can see they are in extremely poor condition with some sections collapsing into the verge. There is one section between Kilrush and Ennis that is so bad that drivers are swerving onto the ditch side of the road to avoid the main carriageway itself. There are other sections across the national secondary road network in Clare where the road is sinking. It is clear to me there are no plans whatsoever to invest in the National Secondary Road infrastructure in County Clare. To many Clare people this lack of investment might be regarded as a planned obsolescence of the National Secondary Road network in the county.”
Deputy Cooney continued, “Unless steps are taken to address this deficiency, we may well, at some stage in the future, see a call from TII to downgrade our National Secondary Road to Regional Roads. In fact, there are already examples of regional roads in Clare that are in far better condition than the National Secondary Roads in North and West Clare. I am calling on you Minister to visit Clare as a priority, to drive these roads with me and to urgently review not just this recent funding decision, but also the rationale for making such a decision.”
In a written response received by Deputy Cooney this week, Minister of State for International & Road Transport, Logistics, Rail & Ports, Seán Canney TD, said that in line with the NDP and Government policy, national road funding for 2025 was allocated in a manner which seeks to achieve key outcomes—namely, the protection and renewal of the existing national road network; progressing major projects in or near construction; and advancing major projects that are pre-construction but well-developed in the pipeline.
Deputy Cooney said the Minister of State’s response did not address the fundamental points of his original queries and confirmed he would be following up with the Department of Transport to ascertain why Clare received a proportionally smaller allocation than most other counties in Ireland.