Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the former Minister for his question which is on an issue on which I am rapidly being educated as it is raised virtually every day in the House, either as a Topical Issue matter or in another form. It is an important issue and I understand the difficulties in which people find themselves. I will respond to the Deputy's question on discussions in a moment.

In the first instance, maintenance of private laneways and roads not taken in charge by local authorities is the responsibility of the landowners concerned, as is the case with all private property.  The local improvement scheme, LIS, whereby a contribution can be made towards the cost of repairing such non-public roads, is governed by section 81 of the Local Government Act 2001.  The section provides that, as Minister, I can make funding available to road authorities in respect of the LIS.  In turn, a road authority may assist with local improvement schemes within its functional area, subject to the limitations set out in the Act and compliance with any terms and conditions set out by my Department.  The local improvement scheme, therefore, operates under a specific statutory remit.

As the Deputy is aware, due to cutbacks in roads funding, it was necessary for the Department to stop making separate allocations to local authorities in respect of the LIS. The scheme remains in place and road authorities can use a proportion of State grant funding, namely, 15% of the discretionary grant this year, for the LIS should they wish to do so.  I have undertaken to review the possibility of a separate allocation for the scheme, taking account of provisions of the programme for Government once the capital plan review has been completed.

5 o’clock

Up to yesterday, I did not have any discussion, nor had my officials, on the provision of funding from my Department and the CLÁR scheme for non-public roads under the LIS, but I am always open to discussion and engagement with any of my colleagues. Any such discussion would, however, have to take account of the specific statutory provisions governing LIS and of the responsibilities of private landowners.

In anticipation of this question, I spoke with the Minister, Deputy Ring, about the possibility of our Departments matching funds via, for example, CLÁR with a view to promoting the LIS. I told him that this question would be raised and asked whether we could do that. He is a man of great enterprise and interest in issues like this and he said that we should go for it or discuss it. I will be having discussions with the Minister about this. I do not promise that anything will come of it but, as a result of his comments, we will examine the matter and see what we can do.

I am aware of the significant pressure on rural Deputies in terms of the LIS and community involvement scheme, CIS. I am sympathetic towards them. As Deputy Ó Cuív will know, there is a commitment - certainly an aspiration - in the programme for Government in this regard.

See this speech in context