Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Griffin for raising the matter. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, has asked me to respond on her behalf.

The local improvement scheme is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas that are not under the normal maintenance of the local authorities. The scheme is funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development and is administered through the local authorities. I acknowledge the major step-up in funding when Deputy Ring was Minister in the Department, and a lot of funding was provided. Many of the long application lists in local authorities were substantially tackled as a result of the additional funding during those years. The focus of the scheme is to support the continued improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities but which represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents.

The LIS was relaunched in its own right in 2017. Between 2017 and 2021, the Department allocated €80 million to local authorities for improvement works on these roads. It is acknowledged how important the scheme is for people in rural areas and for farm families in particular. There is no other source of funding for these roads, which provide vital access to agricultural lands and rural homes. The scheme is also used to fund non-public roads leading to important community amenities such as graveyards, beaches, piers, mountain access points or other tourism and heritage sites.

The Department of Rural and Community Development provides an allocation of funding each year to the local authorities for works on these roads. The selection of roads to be funded under the scheme is then a matter for each local authority based on the priority or condition of particular roads in their county. The local authority may rely on existing lists of eligible roads or advertise for new applicant roads. The practice varies from county to county in that regard. Some local authorities have been successful in clearing the backlog and they have opened up the scheme to new applications to be considered for next year, whereas others have a long list that may have existed for a decade in some cases, and they are working down through the list. Applications are a matter for individual local authorities depending on their existing waiting lists.

Individual applicants contribute towards the cost of the road projects. As Deputy Griffin is aware, this can vary from 10% to 15% depending on how many beneficiaries are on the particular road. This contribution is currently capped at €1,200. However, the majority of beneficiary contributions were well below this figure. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government has committed to increasing the level of investment in the repair of non-public roads through the local improvement scheme.

Given the value of the scheme for people living in rural areas, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, was pleased to be in a position to increase the allocation for the scheme this year. Funding for the scheme in 2021 increased by 5% to €10.5 million and the Minister has secured a further €500,000 to bring the allocation to €11 million for 2022. I can also confirm to the Deputy that the Minister has recently written again to the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, to explore whether funding can be made available from the Department of Transport to support the scheme. It is believed a cross-Government approach might reap dividends in dealing with the backlog of applications on hand, and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, together with her officials, will continue to keep all options under review. She highlighted that there is a contribution cap of €1,200, that the contribution of most people is below that figure and that the amount of contribution is quite small. We all know from our own experience that sometimes the contribution can be by way of work-in-kind in the local community, such as clearing ditches or banks or some such work. It does not always have to be cash. Local authorities have methods of dealing with the issue in terms of work in lieu of a cash contribution.

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