Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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93. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht whether he intends to provide additional funding in 2025 for the local improvement scheme, LIS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36845/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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95. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide an additional allocation to Monaghan County Council for the local improvement scheme in 2025. [38304/25]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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105. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the measures being taken to address the long wait time for applicants under the local improvement scheme in Cork North-West; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38149/25]

Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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As I am sure the Minister will agree, the local improvement scheme, LIS, and the community involvement scheme are two critical supports at local level that are vital to the fabric and function of rural Ireland. Are there plans to provide any additional funding before the end of this year?

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I agree that the local improvement scheme budget needs to be increased. I point the Minister to County Monaghan in particular, which is virtually at the bottom of the list of the 25 counties that receive LIS applications. Only one receives less than County Monaghan despite our probably having more private lanes than many others. Will the Minister increase the budget allocation to Monaghan County Council?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 93, 95 and 105 together.

The three letters most feared by my officials are LIS. We are actively reviewing the LIS, looking to make it more effective and to deliver more consistently. It is a is a key support to rural communities in improving non-public rural roads and laneways that are not typically maintained by local authorities. We reintroduced the scheme in my Department since 2017 following years of no funding, and since then we have provided almost €170 million to local authorities across the State.

In April 2024, €40 million in funding was announced for LIS across eligible local authorities to cover the period 2024 to 2025. Under the 2024-25 allocation, Tipperary received €2.52 million, Monaghan received €938,000, while Cork County Council received €2.78 million.

Earlier this year, my officials began the 2025 LIS works approval process. Priority lists were approved for eligible local authorities. Sanction has been given to all local authorities to begin the 2025 LIS roads programme. To date, local authorities have indicated that 378 non-public roads and laneways will be repaired in 2025. Each year, my Department seeks to ensure the approval process is completed early in the year so that repair works can be carried out as efficiently as possible. However, I am very aware that there are delays and lists around the country. I am actively seeking extra funding in the context of the national development plan review. I am aware of the need for the scheme to be supported. Since 2017, Monaghan has been allocated almost €6 million, with 153 roads completed.

Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Across south Tipperary, the condition of local and minor roads has reached breaking point. We are not talking about potholes or surface cracks; we are talking about roads that are effectively impassible and where families struggle to reach schools, farmers cannot move machinery safely and emergency services think twice before making a journey. As the Minister knows, both schemes provide essential upgrade to non-council roads. I again appeal to the Minister that if he has money up his sleeve there is no better value for money than the two schemes to which I have referred.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Minister, shake out your sleeves.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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In 2024, Monaghan County Council received 273 new applications for LIS funding, yet the funding provided to Monaghan County Council for the scheme would allow for the resurfacing of eight roads in 2024 and nine roads this year. Even with the funding the Minister has indicated, and dealing solely with the applications received in 2024, it would take nearly 30 years to clear all of the roads. We need to bear in mind that the people who live on these lines have to contribute to the cost of resurfacing their own roads on top of their road tax and ever increasing fuel costs. In the interest of fairness, I implore the Minister to ensure that the scheme is allocated additional funding.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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As we are out of time, I ask the Minister to give a brief reply.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the Deputies. In the interests of fairness, we have provided €170 million for a scheme that was not funded prior to 2017. We are working with local authorities. Neither Monaghan nor Tipperary are offenders in this regard, but quite a number of local authorities have a cost per road that is way above the national average. Believe it or not, there are also local authorities which have underspends in the LIS scheme. We are working with local authorities to address that issue and to get extra resources and to ensure that when those resources are provided they are spent well.

Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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While I welcome the increases in recent years, let us be honest. They are not nearly sufficient to address the scale and demand for the schemes. We need to double existing funding for the LIS and CIS schemes so that counties like Tipperary, in particular south Tipperary, gets its fair and equitable share.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Since 2021, 4,800 roads have been dealt with under LIS. I agree that we could do with extra funding. We are actively pursuing that and ensuring that people have proper access to their homes and farms.