Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I note the Members' participation and the interest in the scheme. It was reintroduced in 2017. Base funding has increased year on year since 2021. Last year an additional €10 million in funding was secured. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I will be monitoring capital expenditure across the Department to utilise any savings and LIS is a priority for us. I have engaged with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and his Department on getting extra funding. Deputy McGreehan made a very solid point about storm and weather events. We have increased substantially the funding since 2021 to address that and to give councils the chance to address that. Ultimately, the councils submit their lists and they submit their roads to our Department, so it comes from within the council. With their local knowledge, they can identify what their priorities are. We really leave it to the councils, based on their local knowledge and their local priorities, to decide what they need to submit to us.

See this speech in context