Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The LIS was always funded by the Department of Transport.

In fairness, my predecessor, Deputy Ring, brought the scheme back and I have continued it. We doubled the funding for LIS last year and increased the funding available in the budget for 2022. My county is the same as the Deputy's; it is rural and it has lots of roads but I have to cut my cloth to measure and divide up the pot we get. I have raised this matter with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who has responsibility for roads. In view of the fact that the LIS was always funded by the Department of Transport, I have asked that the Minister would consider matching the funding provided by my Department. That means more money and more roads. The Department of Transport has a much bigger capital budget than mine. I cannot do the loaves and fishes because I have a pot and a lot of other things have to get funding as well.

See this speech in context