Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 61 together.

The maintenance of roads not taken in charge by local authorities is the responsibility of the relevant landowners. The Local Government Act 2001 provides the statutory basis for the local improvement scheme, LIS. Under that scheme, funding can be provided to local authorities for the construction and improvement of non-public roads, that is, roads not taken in charge by local authorities, which meet the criteria set out in the Act. A contribution from the beneficiaries is required in all cases.

Up to 2012, my Department did provide ring-fenced funding for this scheme. However, due to the major cutbacks in roads funding arising from the post-2008 financial crisis, it was necessary for the Department to stop providing dedicated funding for the local improvement scheme in 2012 and there was no funding for the local improvement scheme in that year. After that, from 2013 to 2017, while there was no separate allocation for the local improvement scheme, local authorities could use a proportion of their discretionary grant for the local improvement scheme if they chose to do so. The reason this approach was taken was that it was considered that councils were best placed to decide whether to concentrate the limited grant funding available on public roads or to operate a local improvement scheme for non-public roads.

In September 2017, the then Minister for Rural and Community Development, given the nature of that Department's responsibilities for communities and rural development, assumed lead responsibility for the LIS and introduced dedicated funding for it. In light of the significant funding being put into the LIS by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the need to direct resources into maintaining and renewing public roads, it was decided that the option of allocating a proportion of my Department's discretionary grant to the LIS would no longer apply from 2018. The context for this decision was the continuing budgetary constraints relating to the regional and local road grant budgets.

Project Ireland 2040 provides for a gradual increase in funding for regional and local roads but it will take some time to reach the level of investment needed to ensure that the public road network is being maintained adequately. For this reason, funding continues to be directed primarily at the maintenance and renewal of the public regional and local road network, with some limited investment in road improvement projects. I understand that funding for the LIS will continue to be available from the Department of Rural and Community Development in 2021.

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