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

The local improvement scheme, LIS, supports the improvement of rural roads and lane-ways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. Rural connectivity is an important element of Our Rural Future. Such roads represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents providing access to people's homes and farms as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers and beaches. The scheme is administered locally by the relevant local authority which is responsible for prioritising and selecting eligible applications within broad parameters set by my Department. I acknowledge there is strong demand for the scheme and in some counties local authorities have significant levels of applications on hand. The LIS was re-introduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding in place. As outlined earlier I am tackling the situation through sustained investment. Since the LIS scheme was re-introduced in 2017 aggregate investment has now surpassed €100 million. I have prioritised the scheme in my Department. While of course there are competing demands on finite resources, in four of the past six years additional resources were directed to the scheme mid-year to address strong demand for the scheme across rural Ireland. County Clare has secured combined funding of €2.64 million over the past two years. Indeed since the scheme was re-introduced in 2017 following the establishment of my Department, County Clare has been allocated almost €5 million, representing the sixth largest investment across relevant local authorities. I am happy that the LIS continues to play an important role in the delivery of our rural development policy, Our Rural Future.

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