I raise the issue of the roads in counties Cavan and Monaghan. They are in such poor condition that drivers are getting seasick, particularly those who drive tractors and there are many of those. Earlier this year, I welcomed the announcement from the Department of Transport that there was an 11% increase in funding for rural roads in Cavan and Monaghan. This increase, however, does not allow for the shortfall in the funding between 2008 and 2023. Over this 15-year period, we saw a €105 million shortfall in the funding for our road network in repair and maintenance.

Cavan has the highest NCT failure rate in the country with steering and suspension issues being the number one issue. These problems are directly linked to the poor condition of our roads. It is no coincidence that vehicles are failing where the roads are at their worst. People should be able to commute to and from work without worrying about ripping the wheel of their car. People pay motor tax, fuel tax, tolls and full excise. The least they should expect is the roads they travel on are safe. There may be an increase in funding, but there is an actual reduction in the number of kilometres of local and regional roads being maintained. When I started in the council in 2016, we were doing 23 km in our municipal district. Last year, we did 11 km. These incremental rises in the early budget do not cover the increase in cost of materials or match the rate of inflation. Given the cumulative deficit in road funding during the 15-year period, there needs to be a much higher allocation in funding if we are to see our roads improve. According to the executive of Cavan County Council, it will take 40 years and €220 million to get our roads up to an acceptable standard.

The Government is literally and politically patching over this problem. Rural communities like those in Cavan and Monaghan deserve more than token increases that barely keep pace with inflation. We need a serious sustained investment that addresses the backlog in funding and restores our roads to a safe reliable standard. I have asked for a Commencement debate a few times on this and it has never been picked. In the next term, I would like to have a Commencement debate with the Minister.

I rise to make my final contribution on my first term in the Seanad. During my time so far in Leinster House, I focused on highlighting the trolley crisis at University Hospital Limerick. I turn my attention to the other burning issue for us in Limerick which is the challenge of affordable housing. That term "affordable housing" is often misunderstood.

When I say "affordable housing" in this context, I am talking about the Government scheme to support people who earn over €40,000, as the threshold is in Limerick, that is, over the threshold to qualify for social housing, but who do not earn enough to be able to purchase from the private market, so approximately €75,000 or €80,000. That is a huge salary range and those are fine earnings that people are making in Limerick. Unfortunately, however, the private market is not delivering homes at a cost at which they can purchase them. Affordable housing in this context is the scheme whereby the Government subsidises the cost to deliver housing for those people. I am really dismayed to learn that in Limerick, on foot of my questionings with the local authority, we have only 12 homes in that affordable range coming forward in the pipeline in the foreseeable future. They are rental; they are not even affordable purchase.

We need an urgent debate with the Minister for housing. I know it is an area he is very focused on. I look forward to the work he has done on this being unveiled in the coming weeks. At the earliest possibility, when we come back after the recess, I would like the Minister to come into the House to discuss this cohort of working people, the people who pay for everything, who are not being housed in our society. In Limerick, it is a significant number. We think it is approximately 20,000 people, according to the last census, over the age of 18 who are still living at home with their parents.

I rise today, on the final sitting of this term, to talk about school buses once again. It is something I have raised on at least two occasions in recent weeks, but this is a good news story. Bus Éireann this week came back to me and, after a submission I made initially in March, said:

We have investigated the feasibility of amending the school bus to serve Ballymoe Village and I wish to advise that this amendment will take effect for the 2025/2026 ... academic year.

Because of what I have said in this Chamber before, I want to acknowledge and thank Bus Éireann for coming back to me on that. Now that Bus Éireann has an idea of who needs buses for the next academic year, I would like it to engage with us as public reps much earlier, right now, to see what solutions we can put in place before September to ensure that everybody is serviced and has that service available to access school. However, I wish to put on the record my appreciation. It did take two and a half months to get a response from the reps' email address, so hopefully we can improve on that for the next term.

Before we finish up, on behalf of the Fine Gael Members in this House, I say "thank you" to all the staff here in the Houses of the Oireachtas, including the ushers, the caterers and the cleaners. It has been my first five months involved in this House and they have made us feel very much part of the furniture throughout. I thank them for that. I thank Bridget and all the staff here in the Seanad as well. They have made it a very easy transition from rural Ireland to coming up here.