Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This scheme has been one of my Department's success stories and I thank the Deputy for his kind comments. There had not been a local improvement scheme for many years. Last year there was a total allocation of €866,000. I am looking to see if the Department has any spare funding because this is a great scheme and is one that works well. The local authorities received funding in the middle of last year and again towards the end of this year. They did very well to complete it. I allocated the funding early this year, in February, and asked them to have the schemes completed by July so that if there was any extra funding, I would announce it. I will examine that in the coming weeks. To be fair to the local authorities, if I give them extra funding, I must do so now because they will need to get the work done before the weather gets bad. It is a scheme that has worked well and there is a deep appreciation among rural people for it. People in towns have an expectation that their roads should be done, but rural areas do not have the same chances, although the people who live there pay the same taxes and pay for their water supply.

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