Offaly road damage from wind farms
Deputy McCormack warned that heavy vehicles serving renewable energy developments on peatlands are causing major damage to Offaly roads and draining local authority maintenance budgets. The Minister said he would raise the request for extra funding with the Transport Minister and acknowledged the importance of rural road networks.
In County Offaly, renewable energy developments are mainly located on peatlands around Rhode, Croghan, Edenderry, Banagher and Cloghan. These projects require abnormal load vehicles of up to 135 tonnes on 16-axle trailers. The damage caused by one trip of one of these vehicles is equivalent to one year of normal traffic. As a result, these peat-based roads now require annual maintenance, placing major pressure on our local authority roads budget and taking funding away from other roads that also need work.
Offaly has historically carried the heaviest load in providing power to this country and we are doing so again through renewable energy. We are simply asking for a fair crack of the whip and that separate, dedicated funding be provided to Offaly County Council for these road projects.
Comment on this
I thank Deputy McCormack for his important intervention relating to Offaly. I will raise it with the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, in connection with the request for additional funding that Deputy McCormack has placed on the House. Our road network, particularly in rural counties, is of significant importance to the community.