Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 September 2022
84. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the funding that has been allocated to the local improvement scheme in 2021 and 2022 for Cork; the demand for the scheme in Cork; the financial allocations to date, by each of the Cork local authorities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45073/22]
View answerThe local improvement scheme is essential for tarring rural roads. It is the first stretch of road that people will drive in the morning, the last they will drive in the evening and probably the most frequently driven piece of road. The local improvement scheme is the only hope for tarring these roads. Having enough funding and making it available to the widest number of people is important. Can the Minister give an outline of funding to run that important scheme?
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am well aware of local improvement schemes because there are many lanes where I live that have benefited as, indeed, I am sure the Deputy is aware of many in his area as well.
As 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.
There is a strong demand under LIS, not only in Cork, but right across rural Ireland. The scheme was reintroduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding. From 2017 to 2021, improvement works have been completed on more than 3,000 non-public roads and lanes, benefiting more than 13,300 landowners and residents in these rural areas.
In 2021 alone, €1.4 million was allocated to Cork under the scheme. I was pleased, as part of budget 2022, to announce an increase in the base funding from €10.5 million to €11 million this year. I then announced details of the first round of funding under LIS in early April. That included the Deputy’s constituency in Cork, which got €879,099.
To address the strong demand, and following the identification of savings in other capital areas, I was delighted to be in a position to double the overall provision for the scheme to €22 million this year. In 2022, LIS has €22 million. Under the second round of funding, I increased the allocation to Cork to almost €1.3 million this year.
Since LIS was reintroduced in 2017, aggregate investment has now surpassed the €100 million mark. This is clear testament to Government’s commitment in Our Rural Future to improve rural connectivity. County Cork has been allocated more than €7.36 million since its reintroduction in 2017. In fairness, the former Minister, Deputy Ring, was the man who brought this back. It is a good scheme.
I thank the Minister for the update. I want to acknowledge the increase in funding, as it is very constructive. What it means locally is that in our own area, there are four lanes instead of three being tarred. Additional families can benefit from that.
As well as the increase in funding, there is also, unfortunately, an increase in the rules and conditions that apply. That is a difficulty for many of the participants. The Minister is familiar with the demand for the scheme and that some people have been waiting for several years to be approved. When their turn comes, they may find there are two landowners and everybody involved has to take part in the scheme. This makes it difficult in some cases. People who qualified when they originally applied find they are in trouble several years later. Not everybody will be able to participate in the scheme. There are people who genuinely cannot afford to do it and will not put their name on the application. There may be people who do not agree with one another. The land may be rented or the farmyard may be on another road and the farmer may be not using the road. They are required to provide a significant amount of information such as a map, herd number and so on. These are additional conditions that are not required of householders. There is an increase in conditions that makes it more difficult to access. We want it to be available to the widest possible range of people.
The eligibility criteria with regard to at least two separate landowners being engaged in agricultural or harvesting activity remains a key component of eligibility for the scheme. My priority is to deal with the applications on hand in the local authorities based on the current criteria and to continue to support the rural farming community. Once this backlog of applications is addressed, we can look at widening the criteria.
There are many schemes. My Department is a small one and we do not have a massive budget. The Deputy might urge me to put more money into the scheme. I have put more money into it in the past two years. The baseline is €11 million and it will take time to clear the backlog. The Minister for Transport, however, should be matching the funding I am putting into the LIS because that would mean we would get more done and would be able to look at the criteria more quickly. I have raised the matter with him. I do not know if the Deputy agrees with me but I think if the funding were matched, that would be beneficial. It always came out of the Department of Transport.
Irrespective of whether the money comes from the Department of Transport or the Department of Rural and Community Development, the priority is having it available. We want to make sure the maximum number of householders can benefit from it. In the context of the change in the conditions, people who were queueing for several years may now find they are not able to get everybody involved to participate in the scheme. It may be that a landowner is not taking part or the land is rented. By the way, there is no appeal mechanism available for people to question or challenge a decision. That needs to be examined.
I draw the attention of the Minister to the fact that the question referred to all local authorities in Cork. There are two local authorities in the county. The expanded boundary change means people who were making applications in Ballinora, Blarney and other locations that were in the Cork County Council area are now at sea. Is there funding available for them? It is important they are able to access funding and have an opportunity, similar to that available to people in the rest of the country, to have their roads tarred.
I have stated here on numerous occasions that it is up to Cork County Council and Cork City Council to come together and find a solution to this. The money has been allocated to the county. I would love to give every county more money for the LIS, but if I were to do so, I would be taking the money out of other schemes. I have to try to balance these budgets. The point is Cork County Council and Cork City Council can figure that out themselves. The funding is being made available. The boundaries were changed but I continue to support County Cork in terms of the allocation it gets. It got €1.4 million this year. There is a lot of funding going into the county. The Deputy is aware that only last week there was a further announcement of CLÁR projects. There is a lot of investment. Millstreet Community Council got another €50,000 for a gym, for example. I am trying to do a lot of things. Sometimes it is a case of loaves and fishes but we try to spread it out as fairly as we can.
