Rural areas are falling through the cracks between two Government schemes, with neither covering basic footpath provision, a Fine Gael TD has said.
Deputy Pete Roche said a number of communities are affected and is calling for the CLÁR programme’s eligibility criteria to be reviewed to bring footpaths back into its scope.
“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,” Deputy Roche said.
Footpaths were funded through CLÁR’s Measure 1 until 2022, when the measure’s focus shifted to wider community facilities and amenities, with footpaths reclassified as ineligible.
Figures released to Deputy Roche show the impact in Galway is immediate: 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.
Deputy Roche raised the issue with the Transport Minister, who confirmed that active travel funding is not formally closed off to smaller villages, but demand for that scheme “far exceeds” the budget available to the National Transport Authority (NTA ), meaning projects are prioritised rather than guaranteed funding.
Applications must also be channelled through the local authority before reaching the NTA, with no direct route for communities to apply.
“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 said.
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.
