Dáil debates

Thursday, 15 September 2022

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Rural Schemes

11:20 am

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Question No. 87 was the name of Deputy Cathal Crowe is being taken by Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív.

Photo of Cathal CroweCathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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87. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will take measures to clear the local improvement scheme backlog in County Clare. [45171/22]

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Again I am surprised this question was not taken as part of a group but I do not know who decides on groupings. It is a simple question. What measure is going to be taken to clear the local improvement scheme backlog in County Clare? In asking that question I could also say counties Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, Galway and many more because the backlog is horrendous.

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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.

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Money has been spent but of course there were seven years from 2011 to 2017 when no money was spent so we are only trying to catch up on the total and utter neglect of rural Ireland. It would be a good idea and I ask the Minister, in view of the fact that so many Deputies are raising this question, that she would ascertain from the local authorities around the country the total value in each case of the valid applications they have on hand and as Deputy Moynihan pointed out that is with restrictive rules. Only then will we see the absolutely minuscule amount of money that is going into these roads compared with other roads throughout the country. These are the roads that often lead to people's houses, the one mile of road that they always have to travel. Will the Minister give an undertaking today to ask each local authority to value the total number of valid applications on hand? I can guarantee that this is a very large sum of money and needs much more than has been given to it. If we had that information we could go to the Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform and say this has to be dealt with. It is a national scandal.

11:30 am

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I have been doing my best on this. I gave €22 million this year in local improvement scheme funding, which I believe is the highest amount that has ever been given. I doubled it last year also. There are many competing demands in my Department. There are other schemes and with each scheme, one may want to know why funding is not forthcoming, whether it is town and village renewal or outdoor recreation schemes, or whether it is the regeneration fund, all of which are investments in rural Ireland. I have to try to balance things. From unspent moneys, I was able to move money into the LIS programme because it is also a priority for me.

I have to say, however, that LIS is tar and that is what it goes to fund, that is, tar and roads. I would like and I have asked the Minister for Transport to look at providing matched funding to my Department for the local improvement schemes. It is a priority here and has been raised with me on numerous occasions but I cannot produce all the money. Money did come out of the Department of Transport at one stage in the past and that Department should look at matching what I have put in from my Department. My Department is only a very small one and if there was a roads project which was delayed, one would clear the whole list if this money was then diverted to the LIS programme.

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The history of this is that this scheme was funded solely from the Department of Transport. When I became Minister, I topped up and matched money from the Department of Transport in the CLÁR areas as part of the CLÁR scheme. If that Department did not give the money I did not give the money.

To be quite honest, members of the public just see the Exchequer. They only see one Government constitutionally. They do not care which pocket the money comes out of because it costs the same thing to the taxpayer, no matter what pocket it comes out of. Were the Minister to agree to find out what the total demand of valid applications is, we could go to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and, if necessary, he could take the money off the Department of Transport and give it to somebody who will spend it on these completely vital roads. Will the Minister find out what the total demand for the scheme is around the country in order that we have the ammunition to fight her cause for her?

Photo of Joe CareyJoe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I agree with Deputy Ó Cuív on trying to collate the actual cost throughout the State. I also have to acknowledge the contribution of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, of €2.64 million over the past two years to County Clare. She actually doubled the funding this year, which is greatly welcomed. I also believe that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in the Department of Transport should be contributing to this scheme. I also acknowledge the Minister’s reference in that regard where she has reached out to the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I put in questions as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development in the previous Dáil where we also made recommendations around this. The Department of Transport needs to come up to the plate and to provide funding for this vital scheme for rural Ireland.

Photo of Claire KerraneClaire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I had a similar question on the paper and it was not put together with this one. I ask the Minister and I have raised it before, which is exactly that same question in respect of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan’s Department. Can the Minister inform the House as to what the response to that question from that Department has been because it is something she has said previously she has sought? Again, in my constituency in Roscommon and in Galway, but particularly in Galway, there is a very significant backlog and demand is nowhere near being met in respect of the funding that is there. I believe there may be a job of work for all of us to put pressure on the Department of Transport, together with the Minister, to get this scheme either match-funded or at least to clear the backlog.

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My apologies to Deputy Ó Cuív as I did not answer him because I ran out of time. I will ask every county council. My officials are engaging with the local authorities and I will find out how many such applications are outstanding and what the story is. Believe you me, one gets a great deal of varied information from the different local authorities because they have different ways of working things out and of carrying out assessments. In any event, I will ask them and I will be delighted to get the support of all of the Deputies in getting more money for the LIS programme. If I get more money, it will be allocated across the country. I am doing my best. As Deputy Ó Cuív has said, it was always a Department of Transport fund, but in fairness to the then Minister, Deputy Ring, in 2017 he reopened the programme and we got the ball rolling. We have a long list, it is in every county in the country and I know all about it. It is something of which I am very conscious. I would appreciate the Deputies' support in trying to get more money for this particular fund and I look forward to working with the Deputies.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I believe the Minister will find that all of the rural Deputies will support that call. Next is Question No. 88 in the name of Deputy Ó Cathasaigh ó Chontae Phort Láirge.