I want to raise the issue of the urgent need for emergency funding following the recent storm that affected roads in County Wexford. Wexford County Council has submitted an emergency application for just over €20 million, which is based on the scale of the devastation that was caused by the recent storm. I support the county council's application for emergency funding.

I recall that in December 2021, when there was similar storm damage, the Government at that time came forward with a €5 million package to help address some of the storm damage, particularly damage to roads and bridges and the impact that the water had on both of those. This time, the damage was far more severe and, hence, the application is far larger.

The programme for Government contains a commitment to provide catch-up funding for roads to local authorities which have well below the national average standard of roads. Unfortunately, Wexford has some of the worst roads in the country and really needs this extra funding. The crews are in place. They are doing their absolute best with the resources that were allocated to them previously. Wexford needs this extra funding to restore its roads to a good standard. The impact on agriculture, on people trying to get to work and on tourism cannot be understated. I encourage the Minister for Transport to make this funding available.