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10 Nov 2025
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10 Nov 2025
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Laois County Council snow plough and gritter during a winter storm.
As Laois heads towards another winter of ice and snow, the council has confirmed it is saving up to buy new trucks.
Laois County Council is planning to replace its "ageing" small fleet of trucks and equipment that grit the roads.
However they will be a few years filling up the piggy bank before they have near enough to invest substantially.
Only about a quarter of Laois roads get gritted in icy weather, due to the limits of trucks and staff. More salt bins are in place this winter for the public to use.
The council only owns "maybe a dozen" big vehicles that are used for winter maintenance, and "a lot need replacement", the Director of Services Simon Walton said this week.
He spoke at the annual budget meeting of Laois County Council where it was announced that they are setting aside €180,000 out of their €133 million annual budget for 2026 to save up for the new vehicles.
More money will be saved for the coming years, to "address the ageing fleet".
"A lot of our fleet is hired. We own maybe a dozen very substantial vehicles that contribute to peak services like winter maintenance. A lot of those vehicles require replacement. The repeated €180,000 year on year will go towards a coherent fleet management strategy to be implemented by Laois County Council," the Director said.
Read also: 'People are afraid to walk on the paths' calls for footpath fund for Laois
Julie Bergin, Director of Finance gave the detail in her presentation of the proposed budget which was approved by local councillors at the special meeting on November 10.
"€180,000 wouldn't really buy a lot of vehicles but the proposal is that we are going to provide that to capital over a number of years and improve the fleet," the director said.
The cash is a small part of the council's €31.4 million budget to maintain and improve roads in Laois for the coming year.
It in an even smaller fraction of the €133 million, the council's full 2026 budget to keep their roads, houses, and services ticking over in 2026. That budget is the biggest ever for Laois, jumping by €9m from 2025.
The money is separate to the council's capital budget for building new infrastructure, which is drafted and awaits approval.
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