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

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am well aware of local improvement schemes because there are many lanes where I live that have benefited as, indeed, I am sure the Deputy is aware of many in his area as well.

As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the local improvement scheme, LIS, is funded into the future. The LIS supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. The scheme makes an important contribution to connectivity in rural Ireland.

There is a strong demand under LIS, not only in Cork, but right across rural Ireland. The scheme was reintroduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding. From 2017 to 2021, improvement works have been completed on more than 3,000 non-public roads and lanes, benefiting more than 13,300 landowners and residents in these rural areas.

In 2021 alone, €1.4 million was allocated to Cork under the scheme. I was pleased, as part of budget 2022, to announce an increase in the base funding from €10.5 million to €11 million this year. I then announced details of the first round of funding under LIS in early April. That included the Deputy’s constituency in Cork, which got €879,099.

To address the strong demand, and following the identification of savings in other capital areas, I was delighted to be in a position to double the overall provision for the scheme to €22 million this year. In 2022, LIS has €22 million. Under the second round of funding, I increased the allocation to Cork to almost €1.3 million this year.

Since LIS was reintroduced in 2017, aggregate investment has now surpassed the €100 million mark. This is clear testament to Government’s commitment in Our Rural Future to improve rural connectivity. County Cork has been allocated more than €7.36 million since its reintroduction in 2017. In fairness, the former Minister, Deputy Ring, was the man who brought this back. It is a good scheme.

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