Rural footpath funding falling between the cracks
Small villages losing out
FUNDING for footpaths in rural areas is falling between the cracks of two government schemes, a Galway East TD has warned.
Changes to schemes saw a dramatic drop in footpath projects in the county with none at all between 2022 and 2024.
Up until 2022, footpaths were funded through the CLÁR programme, which targets investment for rural areas. However, changes to the scheme saw it shift to a focus on wider community facilities and amenities.
Figures released to Deputy Pete Roche show the impact in Galway of this change in protocol. Footpath related applications fell from three or four a year to zero between 2022 and 2024.
Only one application was received in 2025 and that project related to accessibility works around a community centre, rather than footpaths in a town or village.
Applications for footpath funding must now be channelled through the local authority before reaching the National Transport Authority (NTA). There is no direct route for communities to apply for funding for footpaths in their areas.
“There are villages in Galway East where there are no footpaths, and right now there isn’t a specific funding scheme that will take responsibility for that,” warned Abbeyknockmoy TD Pete Roche.
“Some villages are told they’re not excluded from active travel funding, but in practice they’re competing for a shrinking pot against towns and cities that are always going to rank higher in priority.
“And since 2022 CLÁR doesn’t cover footpaths. It’s a total gap between two schemes that neither one is owning.”
Deputy Roche has raised the issue with the Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien. He confirmed that active travel funding is not formally closed off to smaller villages.
However, the minister also noted that the scheme “far exceeds” the budget available to the NTA, meaning projects are prioritised rather than guaranteed funding.
The CLÁR programme is due to be reviewed over the coming months. Deputy Roche said this review must restore footpaths as an eligible measure.
“Basic footpaths provision shouldn’t be too small for one scheme and too rural for the other. I’ll be pressing the Rural Affairs Minister to fix this in the CLÁR review, because villages can’t keep waiting,” Deputy Roche concluded.