Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. Statutory responsibility for the development and improvement of roads, including those on offshore islands, lies with my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. However, since 2017, my Department has funded a local improvement scheme, which is a scheme for carrying out improvement works on private-non-public roads. Often these roads lead to multiple houses, parcels of land that support agricultural activity, or amenities such as lakes, rivers or beaches.

The scheme is funded by my Department and delivered in conjunction with the county councils which administer it and carry out the improvement works. The county councils assess and prioritise the roads for improvement works and advise my Department of the projects they intend to carry out within their funding allocations. A local contribution is also made to the cost of the works.

It is solely the responsibility of the local authorities to select and prioritise the road projects that will received local improvement scheme funding in their areas, including on the offshore islands, in line with the scheme criteria and the council's funding allocation.

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