'People are afraid to walk on footpaths' - Calls for more funding for footpaths across Laois

The safety of footpaths across the county was the big issue debated as Laois County Council passed its €132.9 million budget for 2026 on Monday, November 10.

Cllr Barry Walsh, Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council, welcomed the budget which saw an increase of 7.4% on this year, saying: "This is a positive budget with huge investment allocated to communities in Laois."

Within the Road Transportation and Safety budget for next year, maintenance and improvements for local roads in Laois have been allocated €14,024,329, an increase from €12,460,896 this year. Of this funding, €200,000 will go towards footpaths. 

However, many councillors argued that more funding is needed across Laois for the improvement of footpaths. Cllr Conor Bergin of Borris in Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District told the meeting that the allocation of €200,000 "won't go very far."

READ NEXT: Laois County Council's budget to top €130 m in 2026

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley of Portlaoise Municipal District also remarked that the amount of money would "go nowhere", emphasising: "I don't think we can understate the problem."

Some of the councillors pointed out that the need to repair footpaths across Laois was in fact a safety concern. Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald asserted that when it comes to footpaths, "we need to go back to basics."

She urged that more funding be allocated to the improvement of footpaths out of concern for peoples' safety. The Portlaoise councillor told the council meeting that "people are afraid to walk on footpaths."

Reiterating the point of safety, Cllr Ben Brennan exclaimed that trees on the sides of footpaths were adding another obstacle for pedestrians and that something needed to be done to address this. He argued: "They're causing them to fall. We'll never sort this thing with footpaths without sorting trees first."

The Graiguecullen Portarlington councillor was told that the issue would be looked at. 

Cllr Walsh agreed with the concerns raised by the councillors, saying the issue "needs to be addressed." The Cathaoirleach urged that funding for local footpaths was a national issue, and by no means isolated to Laois. He added that the Department of Transport has been urged to address this.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme