Cork's lunar like road surfaces cost county council more than €3m in public liability claims  

Over €3.1m has been paid out in public liability claims against Cork County Council in the last 12 months, at an average of more than €5,000 a claim.

The council also received more than 5,000 complaints about potholes in this time, including accounts of how people had damaged their cars and injured themselves.

In the second half of 2025, 244 public liability claims resulted in €1,220,675 in payouts, while in the first half of 2026, a further 374 claims resulted in €1,916,851 being paid out, according to documents released to The Echo on foot of a freedom of information request.

A council spokesperson said: “Please note that Cork County Council does not pay the claims, it is our insurers, IPB, that pay.”

Potholes

The Echo previously revealed that 86% of public liability claims against Cork County Council resulting in payouts from the start of 2024 to September 2025 were related to potholes.

The spokesperson said Cork County Council received 5,338 complaints regarding potholes during the period from June 1, 2025, to July 9, 2026, and the 238 complaints about potholes that were made in May alone were provided to The Echo.

The Kanturk-Mallow municipal district saw the most pothole complaints with 59, followed by 47 in West Cork. There were 31 complaints in Macroom, 27 in Carrigaline, 26 in Bandon-Kinsale, 20 in East Cork, and 14 in both Fermoy and Cobh.

One person said: “While cycling in the cycle path on the main Douglas Road I struck a pothole, went over handle bars and hit my head among other injuries. Both an ambulance and gardaí attended.”

Another said their car has “extensive damage” from a pothole on the Tallow to Dungourney Road, had to be towed when the tyre blew out, and the suspension has been badly damaged.

One wrote the road from Knockburden Cross to Sacrom Cross in the Macroom area was “like driving on the moon”, and another said multiple large potholes on Grange Hill, Ovens, “are highly dangerous and pose a massive risk for public safety”.

Swerving towards traffic 

Another wrote that several severe potholes in Drimoleague have made the road a hazard as people are trying to avoid the potholes by swerving towards oncoming traffic — others also expressed concern that people had to drive in the centre of windy roads to avoid potholes, which could cause an accident if someone was coming the other way.

One person from Macroom said they had reported “a number of potholes a couple of weeks ago, but nothing has been done yet”.

“This is unacceptable as some of these have been there for a number of months,” they wrote.

Another said that their report of a pothole on the road from Inchigeelagh to Dunmanway which damaged their car “was ignored”.

“I expect to be reimbursed or at least replied to,” they said.