Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022
989. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of applications for local improvement schemes from each local authority received by the appropriate Department in the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18364/22]
View answerAs part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) is funded into the future. The LIS supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. The scheme makes an important contribution to connectivity in rural Ireland.
The scheme was reintroduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding. Since then, my Department has allocated €80 million towards improvement works on over 3,000 non-public roads and lanes. These works have benefited over 13,300 landowners and residents in these rural areas.
I launched the 2021 scheme with an initial budget of €10.5 million. I sourced additional funding last year from savings within my Department's vote, effectively doubling investment to bring the total for 2021 to €21 million.
I was pleased, as part of Budget 2022, to announce an increase in the base funding for LIS from €10.5 million to €11 million this year. I have now announced the details of this year’s scheme, including the details of the individual allocations to each county this year.
Applications under the scheme are submitted to the relevant Local Authority and are not received directly by my Department. The determination of eligibility and the prioritisation of LIS applications is a matter for each relevant Local Authority based on their funding allocation. Each year, the Local Authority informs my Department of the roads which it has selected for improvements works under the scheme. There were 660 such LIS projects delivered under the 2021 scheme.
