Offaly has Ireland's worst roads

Offaly has the worst roads in Ireland, a new report has found.

According to a recently published report by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) looking at the performance of county councils across the country, over a third of Offaly's local roads were in the 'poorest condition' category of the  Pavement Surface Condition Index (PSCI) at the end of 2015, which indicates that the roads show signs of 'structural distress'.

The report revealed that 33% of Offaly's local primary roads are in the PSCI's poorest condition category, compared to only 6% in neighbouring Westmeath and Kildare.

The report also found that 35% of the county's secondary and tertiary road are in the poorest condition category also. In Westmeath 4% of secondary roads and 9% of tertiary roads were in the poorest condition category, while in Kildare 4% of secondary roads and 4% of tertiary roads were in the poorest condition category.

The cathaoirelach of Offaly County Council, Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick says that major investment is needed in the local road network.

'It's basically down to money and it's something that we've been fighting for a long time, particularly in the north of Offaly. We have a lot of roads that are built on a peat base and there will always be problems.'