Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Select Committee on Social Protection, Rural and Community Development
Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 42 - Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (Revised)
2:00 am
Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
I thank Deputy Aird. The LIS is a major priority for me. It is important to put it into context. Since the scheme was re-introduced in 2017 by the former Minister, Michael Ring, some 4,816 roads around the country have been improved. That involved an investment by the Department of nearly €170 million. We know the backlog that exists and we are trying to address it. We are proactively looking for savings to top it up for 2025. The previous Minister, Heather Humphreys, rightly introduced a two-year window for it so that local authorities can plan. That has expanded access to the fund and increased demand for it. The LIS is very important. The Department is very much aware of it. Any savings that we accrue during the year will go to the LIS.
It is interesting because we are also looking at the per head expenditure from councils. There are big variations in what councils are charging for LIS. It goes from €15.60 per sq. m up to €49.15 per sq. m depending on the council. We need to get a handle on that as well. Believe it or not, I am in the middle of trying to find this myself, there are six counties with LIS underspends in 2024.
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