Kildare councillor may have to spend her entire discretionary budget of €50,000 to build one pedestrian crossing

Irish Independent

16-07-2025

Cllr Evie Sammon says a combination of high building material costs and underfunding from central government means that Kildare County Council are struggling to deliver on 'bread and butter' projects
A Kildare county councillor may have to spend her entire annual discretionary budget on a singular pedestrian crossing in Naas that could cost up to €50,000 or more to build.
Naas Councillor Evie Sammon told the Irish Independent that due to a lack of government funding, Kildare County Council are struggling to deliver on 'bread and butter' projects across the county such as pedestrian crossings. As a result, basic maintenance works such as footpath maintenance works are not being done as it's too costly for the council.
Cllr Sammon explained that a combination of the high cost of building materials and underfunding from government has created a situation in Kildare whereby councillors are having to use their annual discretionary budgets to cover basic maintenance works.
"Having to deliver a pedestrian crossing through a councillor's nominated funding shouldn't really be happening,' said Cllr Sammon. 'The reason why I'm willing to use my entire discretionary budget on one project is out of desperation to deliver the infrastructure that we're lacking.
"You would like to use the discretionary funding to deliver nice community things but I have been looking for this pedestrian crossing near Meadows & Byrne in Naas for the past six years and I have come to the end of my tether.
'For years I was told the pedestrian crossing would be part of the Dublin Road scheme which would be funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and that there was no point in delivering the pedestrian crossing until that scheme came forward but that scheme seems to be years, if not a decade away.
"But we can't wait that long, for public safety reasons we need that pedestrian crossing now.'
When Cllr Sammon approached the council to enquire about using her own budget to cover the cost of the pedestrian crossing she was shocked when she was told her entire annual discretionary budget would only cover the cost of that one pedestrian crossing, in other words her entire discretionary budget for the year would be gone on one singular project.
Although the project has not gone out for tender yet, the council informed Cllr Sammon that it could cost up to €50,000 or even more to construct one pedestrian crossing.
'When I was looking for the pedestrian crossing I was essentially told, 'well that's your full discretionary amount because it could cost €50,000'.
"The cost of building materials is so high at the moment, but also you have to take into consideration the cost of implementing a stop and go system while the works are happening which is surprisingly very expensive in itself.
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"It's the combination of the high cost of building materials and labour. If the pedestrian crossing is beaconed then you also have the cost of underground electrics and bringing the electrics from wherever the nearest source is so it really adds up.'
It's not just projects for pedestrian crossings that council funds are struggling to cover, but essential footpath works too.
"We are getting quotes for footpaths at the moment of about €300,000 and these footpaths are not being delivered because of the high price. Concrete in particular is very expensive so where we have footpaths that need to be done, if we can't afford them, it's a case of they are either not being done or we look at using tarmac.
"We're underfunded in Kildare,' added the Fine Gael councillor. 'Our area engineers are doing the best that they can with small budgets. We are the worst funded council in the country from central government and even to bring us to the next worst funded council which is Wicklow, we are looking at about €4m or €5m to bring us in line with them.'