For 2026, approximately €6.5 million was allocated for the national road network in Clare, providing funding for the Shannon Airport Access Road and the Ennistymon Inner Relief Road. In addition, it provided funding for road safety improvements and pavement renewal work in the county.
All funding available through the 2026 Regional and Local Road Grant Programme was allocated to local authorities in February this year. Such allocations should supplement realistic contributions from local authorities’ own resources.
Clare County Council was allocated €31,788,700 under the Regional and Local Roads Grant Programme. Of this, €26,628,700 has been allocated in protection and renewal grants, which is an increase on the initial 2025 allocation of €25,779,500 for these same grants. There was an overall lower allocation this year when compared to last, due to the completion of several projects in 2025, including the Killaloe Bypass, the Shannon Bridge Crossing, and the R494 road improvement.
In accordance with Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, as amended, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority. Work on such roads is funded from Councils' own resources, supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of work to be funded is a matter for local authorities.
For 2026, €718 million has been allocated, through State road grants, for the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads, with approximately 90% of this funding allocated to road maintenance and renewal. This years allocation also included an overall increase in funding of €26 million for road protection and renewal.
My Department is aware of the pressure local authorities are under to deliver their work programmes for regional and local roads within their existing budgets. The allocation to each eligible local authority is on as fair and equitable a basis as possible. In the main protection and renewal grant categories, it is based on the length of the road network within a local authority's area of responsibility, with some account taken of the level of traffic present.
