James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

52. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if her Department has considered allocating extra funding to Cork county for local improvement schemes for private roads and laneways; if her Department has considered allocating additional funding for Cork county to repair many regional roads across Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41417/23]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

83. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development her plans to reduce the LIS list in County Kerry; if she appreciates how long it will take to clear the overall list in Kerry at the current rate of works; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41328/23]

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My question relates to funding for rural road infrastructure. Our schemes are well resourced, but we need more funding in County Cork, given the physical size of the county. Its road infrastructure has long been an issue, not only at national level, but also in terms of the area pertaining to the Minister’s Department. Deputy Humphreys has been a wonderful Minister nationally and she is no stranger to boreens and other rural roads, given that she comes from a rural constituency. We in County Cork face an issue and would deeply appreciate further funding to help people living in rural communities, be they farming or just living in localities where these schemes apply. The Minister’s support would be appreciated. I commend her on what she has done to date. She has been an excellent Minister to deal with on a cross-party basis.

We need further funding for County Cork.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 83 together.

I thank both Deputies for raising this matter. The local improvement scheme, LIS, supports the continued improvement of non-public roads and lanes that are not normally maintained by local authorities. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the LIS is funded into the future. I am very aware of the importance of the works funded by the LIS across the country. As the Deputies will be aware, the LIS was reintroduced by my Department in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding. Since then, my Department has allocated almost €114 million to the scheme, which has upgraded some 3,700 non-public roads and lanes, benefiting more than 16,000 landowners and residents in these rural areas. The scheme is implemented in collaboration with local authorities. The prioritisation of roads and delivery of the scheme at local level are matters for each local authority.

The maintenance of regional and local roads is funded by the Department of Transport. Earlier this year, the Government announced details of a €626 million investment programme for these roads. I have always sought to ensure that the LIS is well funded; in each of the last three years, I have been able to allocate additional funding to the scheme. In July this year, I announced an additional €16 million in funding, which ensured that almost €30 million has been allocated to local authorities in 2023 alone. I also engaged with local authorities to announce the initial 2023 allocations earlier this year in order to give local authorities the maximum time possible to complete works on the ground. From 2017 to 2023, a total of €10.1 million has been allocated to County Cork to fund works carried out on more than 200 roads. This is the third-highest allocation nationally. In County Kerry, over the same period from 2017 to 2023, more than €7.7 million has been allocated to fund works on 173 roads. This is the fifth-highest allocation nationally. For 2023 alone, more than €1.5 million has been allocated to County Kerry to carry out repair and maintenance works on 25 roads, whereas more than €2.7 million has been allocated to County Cork for works on 47 priority roads. Looking ahead to next year, my Department is already engaging with local authorities to establish delivery capacity, should additional funding allocations be available for the scheme in 2024. I am very anxious to ensure that my officials engage with our delivery partners on an ongoing basis across the range of schemes in the rural development investment programme to ensure that delivery of projects across rural communities is expedited.

Lastly, I stress that I understand the importance of the LIS to rural communities, which is why I am engaging with my colleague, the Minister for Transport, with a view to exploring jointly funding the scheme. I am confident that the scheme can continue to make a real contribution to the goals set out in Our Rural Future.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I commend the information the Minister provided and how good an idea it is. The money that has not been spent in the Department of Transport needs to be transferred for these well-deserved schemes that need funding to progress. She made one comment that concerned me, in that County Cork is number three nationally. The county has the largest road network in the country. Surely, it should be first in line for funding when for the community involvement scheme, CIS, and LIS. I know the Minister will take this matter seriously and take it back to the Department but the front page of The Mail on Sundaylast weekend highlighted a national scandal, stating that €14 billion was needed for transport infrastructure. There is money in the State's coffers that has not been spent. It is not the Minister's fault but it is an issue for the Department of Transport under the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I am hopeful, considering that there is money that has not been spent to date, that some will be transferred for a joint scheme between the Departments of Rural and Community Development and Transport under the auspices of the Minister for Transport. This is something that must be looked at.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. I commend her on all the work she is doing. I welcome the €7.7 million allocated to my county, Kerry, over the past six years. It involved 173 roads that previously were not done, which is important to the residents and farmers using those roads. For those people, they are the most important road there are. There are hundreds more roads that need to be done. While 25 roads this year is very welcome, it will take many years to clear the list at the current rate. That is why I want to ask the Minister if she will engage with our local authority. My understanding, from previous responses I have received from her, is that Kerry County Council has received everything it looked for in recent years. Is it, therefore, a question of the local authority's capacity to do more roads in the year? That is part of the problem and why it will take so long. The Minister is also looking for more funding. I raised this with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, when I met him recently at our parliamentary party meeting and asked that for every €2 the Department of Rural and Community Development chips in, the Department of Transport chip in at least €1. That would, for example, bring the budget this year from €30 million to €45 million and would deliver a huge number of roads all over the country. That question of capacity and the ability of the local authorities to do more is very pertinent for County Kerry because, at the current rate, with the Minister acknowledging that her Department is giving everything it is asked for, the council will take years to clear the list. Many people are waiting.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department of Transport has a large capital budget, which is far more than what I have in my Department. I have raised this matter with the Minister for Transport on a number of occasions and will continue to do so. The Department of Transport has a role in this area. I funded the additional money through savings in other areas in my Department. I have managed to do that over the past number of years but as projects in other funding areas, such as some of the other schemes I fund, fall due, there may not be as much money available from savings to allocate to the LIS. In the context of the budget and national delivery plan ceilings, I will be looking for more money for LIS. I guarantee that because it is so important. I know what it is like going up a rural road and, as I said to somebody the other day, you would hit your head in a tractor, never mind in a car because the holes are not good. It would do your heart good to see the video I got this evening of the new road finished. I am delighted. Everybody is happy and they are finished to a high quality. It is an important scheme. I know how important it is in rural areas. I will continue to support it.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are not too many people in the Cabinet I would trust to pilot a Massey Ferguson but I guarantee that the Minister is one of them. Her comments are very welcome. It is good to know that rural Ireland has somebody at the table, like her, with the commitment to try to address this issue. She eloquently put it about having the awareness, for the likes of us in rural constituencies, whether it is Deputy Griffin in County Kerry or others in constituencies across the country, that this is a very personal matter to rural households. It is their equivalent to an urban family of public transport. It is their way to and from where they live to where they work and where their children go to school or training. If they farm, it provides access to and from the fields. It should be treated with the seriousness it deserves. This scheme has been successful but when it comes to County Cork, it is about the issue of resoucing. It is a pertinent point that County Cork is number three, even though we have the longest rural road network. It needs to be number one.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I know people in County Kerry who are No. 300 or 400 on the list. At the current rate of 25 per annum, which is a good year, it will still take so many years to get it done. I am under enormous pressure, as are other Deputies and councillors. If the council says it only has so much capacity to do X number of roads in the year, which is what I understand has been happening in recent years, and it has everything it looked for, can local authorities be given the option of additional funding and contracting the work out? There are many contractors in the county who I know are well capable of building good roads. Otherwise, some people will literally be waiting into double figures of years to get their roads done. We are not just talking about people driving motor cars; it is also about people who need to push buggies, use wheelchairs and children cycling up and down the road.

They simply cannot do it at the moment in the places where they live. We need to look outside the box in terms of models of delivery. If local authorities are limited with their capacity, can a different model be considered?

I reiterate that the Department of Transport has to step up to the line. It is a massive Department with a significant capital budget and it should not be leaving the entire burden to the Minister's Department. The Minister has stepped up but the Minister for Transport needs to play his part, too. There is a sustainable element to this as well.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We recently funded town centre first officers in all local authorities. That is an extra resource. We have the rural recreation officers as well, whom we fund.

To return to the LIS, Kerry indicated it could deliver €3.6 million worth of works in 2024, while Cork indicated it could deliver €5.4 million of works in the same year. Kerry County Council had a small underspend of almost 10% in 2022, as did Cork. The Deputies may keep the councils at it and make them spend the money.

As regards Cork being number three, there is not much in it between Cork and Galway. Number one on the LIS funding scheme is County Donegal. It got €11,421,000 to date. Galway, at €10,282,000, was a close second, while following close behind was Cork, at €10,118, 000. There is not a hair's breadth between Galway and Cork. It is money well spent. Deputy Paul Donnelly and I were discussing Culture Night earlier. We had Culture Night from Donegal. They were out on Árainn Mhór. The Deputy was out there himself. It came from the beautiful plaza on the beach that we funded. To where else did they turn then, only Dunlewey and the beautiful centre there. We are helping them to try to get that back on track. There are loads of things happening in Donegal. In fairness, Culture Night showcased them well.