The Cork to Ringaskiddy motorway will be delivered “on time and in budget”, Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jerry Buttimer said as he announced more than €78 million in road funding for Cork county.
The allocation is part of a €718 million regional and local road package to maintain 2,800km of road and improve a further 2,330km, Buttimer said on Tuesday. Almost €800 million has been allocated for national road projects, bringing the total 2026 road budget to €1.5 billion, up 14 per cent from last year.
The investment in regional and local roads will support towns and villages across the State, “improve connectivity” and help local businesses thrive, said Buttimer, who has responsibility for rural transport and represents the Cork South Central constituency.
“A safe and efficient road network enables those living in rural Ireland to be connected to work, education and healthcare,” he said.
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Cork County Council was again the largest beneficiary of the exchequer grants for regional and local roads, although its annual funding is down from €82.8 million in 2025. The Archdeacon Duggan Bridge across the river Bandon in Kinsale is among the rehabilitation projects to benefit this year.
The four Dublin councils were the only local authorities to be awarded less than €1 million out of this pot. Dublin City Council was allocated €41,000, while Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council secured €38,000. South Dublin County Council and Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien’s area of Fingal were each given the lowest allocation of €33,000.
Tipperary County Council received the second-highest amount, with €49.4 million granted, followed by Donegal, with €46.2 million allocated, while Minister of State at the Department of Transport Seán Canney’s area of Galway County Council received €46 million.
Grants for climate adaptation and resilient road works, introduced in 2020, total €16.5 million this year, while €18 million has been allocated for drainage works.
O’Brien said the Government is “committed” to helping local authorities financially with the aftermath of Storm Chandra, which brought flooding to many areas of the country late last month. His department is liaising with affected counties that are assessing the storm’s damage and the cost of remediation, he said.
The Minister said allocations announced on Tuesday will enable “multiple major new road projects on the national road network to progress, including those that are close to construction”.
Advancing national road projects set out in the National Development Plan is a “priority” for the Government alongside the protection and renewal of the existing national, regional and local road network, O’Brien said.
Meanwhile, the mother of 16-year-old Grace Lynch, who died after being hit by a scrambler as she crossed a Dublin road last month, has praised progress in banning the vehicles in public, saying: “I am so happy my little girl did not die in vain.”
Grace’s parents Siobhán and Martin Lynch met O’Brien and Canney on Tuesday to discuss the Government’s plan to prohibit the use of scramblers in public through what she has termed “Grace’s Law”.
Following the meeting, O’Brien confirmed that the regulations should be introduced within “a matter of weeks”.
“I would certainly like to see the regulations in March. I think we can do that,” he said, adding that his department’s lawyers were working on a legal definition of “scrambler” and on other areas of the planned law.
In a video posted on social media on Tuesday afternoon, Siobhán Lynch said the meeting went “very well” and confirmed there was “going to be a complete ban on scramblers ... which is fantastic”.
Existing laws make it illegal to use an unregistered scrambler in a public place and to use a scrambler dangerously in any location.
