Thomas Byrne
Question:15. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if he will increase the allocation in funding to Meath County Council for the local improvement scheme in 2020 and 2021. [50624/19]
View answerThursday, 5 December 2019
Questions (15)
Written answers
The Local Improvement Scheme, or LIS, is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas. It is funded by my Department and administered through the Local Authorities.
Since I reintroduced the LIS in 2017, I have granted over €48 million to the Local Authorities to deliver the scheme. This has resulted in over 2,000 road projects being approved for works.
Meath County Council has been allocated over €1.5 million of the funding since 2017, which I understand has supported the completion of works on 55 roads in the county. This year alone, my Department awarded €326,000 to County Meath under the LIS.
I plan to support the LIS scheme again in 2020, and a budget of €10 million has been secured for this purpose. This matches the level of funding announced for 2019 and demonstrates my commitment to the scheme.
The exact level of funding to be provided to each Council in 2020, including Meath County Council, will be confirmed when the scheme is announced next year.
It is too early to give any indication of the level of funding which might be provided for the LIS in 2021. That will be decided as part of the annual Estimates process next year.