Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement matter. I sincerely wish him the best of luck in his new role and look forward to working with him for the benefit of the people of County Wexford.

I put forward this matter on the basis of my experiences as an elected councillor in Wexford relating to the allocation of funding for our rural villages, specifically for footpaths. When I was first elected in 2019, it was possible to liaise directly with the district engineer and in the case of rural villages, it was possible to get funding through Wexford County Council to supply a footpath. When the previous Government took office, the then Minister, Eamon Ryan, introduced the active travel scheme, which brought about a significant shift in how we delivered footpaths. Most footpaths were subsequently delivered directly through that scheme and the case was put forward that my fellow elected officials and I would liaise with the district engineer, who would then attempt to secure funding through the active travel programme.

That system worked very well in 2021 and 2022 but in 2023, I noticed a significant shift in that the active travel allocations for Wexford, which I imagine is replicated in other areas of the country, started to be focused on the large urban areas at the expense of some of our rural villages. I saw examples in my area where much sought-after footpaths in small rural villages simply were not getting the allocation of funding that was previously possible because of the criteria that were introduced in 2022. Will the Minister of State look at this area? Ring-fenced money should be allocated for rural villages, specifically to target, for example, housing estates in a village that may have expanded beyond the location of the speed limit side. There may now be a housing estate that was constructed over recent years but there may be no linkage from that estate back to the village where the local school is. That needs to change.

Wexford is very grateful to have received €3.57 million in the most recent round of active travel funding but, unfortunately for us, while we are grateful to receive the allocation in our large towns, it did not materialise in some of those small rural villages, which had hoped for and anticipated funding. I ask the Minister of State to take this back to the Department and the officials. Perhaps we can work together to ensure there is a ring-fenced allocation of funding for smaller villages.