Cork motorists claiming thousands for pothole damage

In just six south Cork areas — Blarney, Macroom, Ballincollig, Carrigaline, Cobh and East Cork — the council has already paid 160 drivers more than €41k since the start of last year.

A similar number of successful claims are likely to have been made in North and West Cork, meaning the overall figure being paid out by the council in relation to potholes could be almost €100k a year.

The issue was raised this week by Cobh-based Labour Councillor, Cathal Rasmussen, at the most recent meeting of the council’s southern committee.

“I was surprised at the cost. €41k [in south Cork] over a 22-month period… I would consider that to be quite high. That’s an average of €260 per claim,” he said. “In Cobh specifically the same potholes are there and have been there for a number of months. I recently did a survey and I found 25 areas in the Cobh area that need to be repaired.”

Cllr Rasmussen said he would be interested in finding out how many of the claims in the south Cork area related to the same potholes.

“Outside of housing this is the single biggest issue that I as a councillor have to face on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. I suppose the frustration is you can go to any town and there are potholes there and they are the same potholes that have been there for months.”