KILDARE County Council will spend almost €300,000 on pay-parking in the Athy area this year according to figures published recently. The budget published by Kildare County Council revealed that the council is budgeting a pay-parking income of €340,709 and an expenditure of €292,352 for 2026, meaning there is a budgeted surplus of €48,357.
The figures were seen by the Kildare Nationalist after the most recent meeting of Athy Municipal District (MD) on 19 January, where Cllr Mark Leigh asked for the council to confirm the figures for the pay parking fund in the county and also asked how much is to be allocated for the Athy MD.
A report issued by Mark McLoughlin, acting director of services in transport, mobility and open spaces at Kildare County Council, included the budget for the year. It included figures for the whole county, which are budgeted to be an income of €3,250,483 and an expenditure of €2,143,731 on pay parking, meaning a surplus of €1,106,752.
The report further detailed: “The adopted surplus for 2026 is to be used within the roads programme for Municipal District works including local roads, regional roads, footpath, public lighting, traffic signalling and road safety measures. There is also a pay parking reserve of €147,000 which is used for parking-related additional costs such as line marking and costs associated with the implementation of bye-laws.”
Cllr Ivan Keatley noted the importance of the public being made aware that pay-parking fees are being put back into the local area.
