Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 October 2022
376. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if additional monies will be made available for the local improvement scheme for the remainder of 2022 (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48922/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra377. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount of money has been allocated to Donegal County Council for the local improvement scheme for each of the years 2017 to 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48923/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra381. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of roads in County Donegal that were improved with funding from the local improvement scheme for each of the years 2017 to 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48924/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 376, 377 and 381 together.
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.
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 over 3,000 non-public roads and lanes benefiting over 13,300 landowners and residents in these rural areas.
Since the LIS was reintroduced in 2017 the aggregate investment has now surpassed €100 million.
In 2022, the base funding for the Scheme was increased from €10.5 million to €11 million. I announced details of the first round of funding under LIS in April, which included €716,560 allocated to Donegal County Council.
To address 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 August. As a result, the initial funding of €716,560 allocated to Donegal was increased to some €1.71 million. This brings the total allocated to County Donegal since 2017 to just under €9.43 million, the largest allocation to any county since the scheme was reintroduced.
As part of Budget 2023, I was pleased to announce a further increase in the base funding from €11 million to €12 million.
Set out in the table below is the funding allocation and the associated number of LIS roads upgraded in Donegal under the Scheme over the period 2017 to 2021.
|
YEAR |
FUNDING |
NO. OF ROADS |
|
2017 |
€3,384,000 |
227 |
|
2018 |
€1,792,516 |
106 |
|
2019 |
€677,456 |
35 |
|
2020 |
€677,456 |
35 |
|
2021 |
€1,188,403 |
67 |
|
TOTAL |
€7,719,831 |
470 |
