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Local Improvement Scheme Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 June 2018

Thursday, 14 June 2018

Ceisteanna (4)

Michael Collins

Ceist:

4. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development his plans to allocate extra funding to the local involvement and community involvement schemes in 2018. [26019/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (8 píosaí cainte)

During the past 12 months or more the Minister has allocated funding for the local improvement scheme. I commend him greatly on that because the scheme had been stalled for several years, much to the detriment of rural communities. It is back now and it is really popular. Most local authorities will say that the funding given by the Minister is great but that they want triple or quadruple what they are getting. Does the Minister have extra funds for the scheme this year?

I understand the Deputy is referring to plans to allocate extra funding to the local improvement scheme, LIS, in 2018. The LIS is a scheme for carrying out improvement works on private and non-public roads. The type of roads covered under the scheme are not under the normal maintenance of the county councils. However, they provide vital links for people living in rural areas and need to be maintained to enable people living in rural Ireland to access their homes, farm land or amenities.

For many years, there was no dedicated funding for the LIS due to the constraints on the public finances. However, I allocated €10 million in funding for the LIS in September 2017. The scheme is administered by the county councils. The councils prioritise the roads to be repaired and carry out the works. Based on demand for the scheme and the capacity of local authorities to complete further works before the end of last year, I allocated an additional €7.4 million for LIS roads in November 2017. Building on the success of last year's scheme, I approved €10.8 million to county councils for LIS roads in February of this year. In total, over 1,100 LIS roads will have benefited from the investment of €28 million made by my Department since last September. As part of the 2018 LIS scheme, I requested each county council to compile a secondary list of suitable LIS road projects which they could complete if additional funding becomes available for the scheme later this year. I will be monitoring the situation in the context of my Department's overall expenditure performance over the coming months.

I thank the Minister. I am in not here to criticise him in any way for what he is doing because he could do no better than he has done to date. It is simply a matter of encouraging a deeper look to determine whether there could be an extra allocation of funding at the end of this year. In south west Cork I know of €2 million or €3 million worth of projects seeking funding. Those involved cannot get it because they have an allocation and they are trying to work through that allocation. That allocation was not in place two or three years ago although it was desperately needed at the time. Yet, it is in place now. The money is welcome but I appeal to the Minister to concentrate and take a closer look. It could help areas like Castletownbere, the road out to Mizen Head and back into Skibbereen, as well as Bantry and such places. Projects in these areas are seeking funding allocations.

I would appreciate if the Minister would consider giving extra investment for it this year.

To be fair to Deputy Michael Collins, he did acknowledge that there was no scheme for many years and that it is up and running now. A total of €17.5 million was spent on the scheme last year. There was no dedicated LIS scheme in recent years. Councils receive money from rates and other contributions. I agree with Deputy Michael Collins that there are many roads in rural areas that we need to address. I would like to see local authorities and perhaps the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport putting funding into the scheme. There are many roads with problems because we did not have a scheme for many years and if everybody put a bit into the pot we would get more roads done. A total of 1,100 roads have been completed in 12 months and if we could get a bit of extra funding from the local authorities and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport perhaps we could get more roads done. Perhaps elected representatives could speak to county councillors to suggest that councils should put some money out of their own resources into the LIS. The Acting Chairman, Deputy Eugene Murphy, is a rural Deputy himself and he is aware that people make a contribution to the scheme in addition to paying their taxes and water charges. The State also makes a contribution. I would like to see local authorities making a contribution but instead some local authorities charge us for the work and we could get more roads done if they did not charge us for their staff time.

I will definitely take that on board. I will speak to my brother, Councillor Danny Collins, to see if he could push Cork County Council to come on board and co-fund these projects going forward. Between the LIS and the community services scheme it is a fabulous opportunity for communities to make progress. I accept that, unfortunately, they will have to contribute a little but that is fine given the long-term benefit. I plead with the Minister to consider allocating more funds to the scheme going forward as we are only barely reaching what needs to be done. I commend the Minister on dealing with 1,100 roads to date but thousands of roads have not been addressed. I look forward to the Minister having a chance to announce further funding for the scheme before the year is out.

The Minister will hardly announce the new funding today.

I am looking at my Department's finances at the moment. I like the scheme, I want to support it and there is a need for it. A very serious problem has arisen in recent years given that no scheme was in place. There is a big build-up of roads that need to be addressed. We will continue with the current funding allocation and if I can find further funding between now and the end of the year I will make it available. I have asked the local authorities to get a LIS project ready if we have funding. I also asked them to prioritise the funding they have been allocated. Some of them did very well with the funding they were allocated but others did not do so well. The weather has been fairly good in recent months and local authorities are carrying out work on the roads. I would like to see them deal with LIS roads. I put on record that I will put in a condition that any local authority that does not spend its allocation by the deadline will not get additional funding if it becomes available in September. We set a deadline of July and the local authorities asked if it could be extended until August, which we allowed. Deputy Michael Collins might come back to criticise me on the basis that Cork got no money.

That is quite clear from the Minister.

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