Road repairs postponed due to spiralling energy costs

Some scheduled road repairs to be carried out by the council have had to be postponed due to spiralling energy costs.

At a recent meeting of the Athlone Municipal District, councillors were informed that works on four roads due to take place this year have to be postponed. However, works will go ahead on the other 61 roads. At the meeting, the damaging impact of climate change on the district’s roads was repeatedly highlighted.

Cllr John Keogh said it was very disappointing to learn that one contract for works came back as 20 per cent higher in the costings due to the oil crisis.

He said in 2024, councillors approved the roads programme only to be informed five weeks later, that the tenders for blacktop surfacing was 40 per cent higher, reconstruction was 30 per cent higher and surface dressing was 20 per cent higher.

“There was no justification at that time because the fluctuations in oil prices had already taken place. In my opinion, price gouging was going on.” He said that the country needed more contractors in order to promote competition and for prices to fall, and he called on the government to help achieve this.

“I am not in favour of giving more money to do the work. It’s not a sustainable way,” the Fianna Fáil councillor said.

He said it was beyond the control of the council and its officials that “prices were spiralling out of control”.

“We see it there with the cost of fuel at the stations, where they put up the price of fuel literally before the cut in excise. It’s outrageous, it’s price gouging as far as I am concerned.” Cllr Laurence Fallon said that he was disappointed but not surprised by the increase in prices. The roads in the district were as bad as they have been over the past five years, he added, and he proposed that a letter be sent to the minister of transport requesting additional funding.

“We are not getting adequate funding for the roads,” he said.

*Published under the Local Democracy Scheme