Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 May 2018
33. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason the newly announced local improvement scheme has had a funding reduction of €7 million from the 2017 allocation in view of the fact weather events in 2018 have had a detrimental effect on rural infrastructure. [19077/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI reintroduced dedicated funding for the Local Improvement Scheme in September 2017 after a gap of 8 years. This scheme is a lifeline for people living in rural areas because it directly improves their access to and from their homes and farms, and has made a huge difference for rural communities around the country.
In September 2017, I approved €10 million in funding for the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS). As there had been no dedicated funding for LIS for a number of years, there was a very significant level of pent-up demand for the scheme. Based on the Local Authorities' capacity to deliver further road improvements before the end of the year, I allocated an additional €7.4 million to the scheme from savings elsewhere in my Department's Vote at the end of November 2017.
I launched the 2018 Local Improvement Scheme in February of this year, with an indicative allocation of €10.8 million. This is higher than the initial allocation in 2017. I have now published the details of over 400 roads selected by County Councils for improvement works this year on the basis of their 2018 allocations. Details of the roads in question are available on my Department's website at http://drcd.gov.ie/about/rural/local-improvement-scheme/.
This brings to over 1,100 the number of roads which will have been supported by my Department under the LIS scheme since September 2017.
As part of the 2018 scheme, I also requested each County Council to compile a secondary list of suitable LIS road projects that they would have the capacity to complete should additional funding become available through my Department later in the year. I will be monitoring the situation in the context of my Department's overall expenditure performance over the coming months.
