Less than €60,000 of €2.6m Dundalk Pathfinder budget spent
The 2026 allocation for the project was reduced to €800,000
Louth County Council spent just over €57,000 on the Dundalk Pathfinder in 2025, despite an allocation of €2,625,000 from the National Transport Authority (NTA).
The figures were revealed by Louth County Council's Director of Major Capital Projects and Infrastructure David Jones.
Mr Jones was responding to a written question submitted by Green Party councillor Marianne Butler.
The Dundalk councillor requested a "detailed breakdown" of how the €2,625,000 in funding for the R132 Inner Relief Road was spent.
In response, Mr Jones said the local authority spent €57,701 in total, "which covered the completion of the detailed design, the preparation of procurement documentation and compliance with the NTA Project Approval Guidelines and Audit Protocols applicable to a project of this scale".
He said the procurement documents "underwent several reiterations" to ensure construction-stage risks were "fully identified and mitigated".
Mr Jones said the final set of tender documentation was submitted to the NTA in September in 2025 for approval, however no decision was issued and the project "did not proceed any further in 2025".
Louth County Council received a reduced allocation for the Dundalk Pathfinder of €800,000 for 2026.
The local authority confirmed the remainder of the €2,625,000 would not carry over for this year.
At the March meeting of Louth County Council, Mr Jones said the funding is "allocated in January, and if you spend it over the course of the year, you spend it, if you don't, you don't. It doesn't roll into subsequent years."
Mr Jones said Louth County Council has met with the NTA about its plans for 2026 and said it has to prioritise which projects get completed.
He said the local authority's priority is to complete works to the Xerox Junction in Dundalk and the Drogheda Pathfinder project which received a further €550,000.
However, he confirmed that projects will not proceed in their entirety as previously envisaged.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.