Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, to the Chamber this afternoon and thank him for attending on this issue calling for the reintroduction of a specific ring-fenced allocation of funding for local improvement schemes.

I have no doubt the Minister is aware that this is an important issue, particularly for people in rural areas whose only access to their homes or lands is through a private roadway. A specific grant allocation was in place until 2011 but it was then removed. It was replaced with a scheme whereby a local authority could allocate up to 15% of its discretionary roads budget to local improvement schemes while the local community could make a contribution of 20% of the cost.Unfortunately, the scheme has not proved to be very successful and very few counties of which I am aware have taken it up. I am not aware of any local authorities in my own area of Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and Donegal taking up that scheme. It is a pity because great work had been done prior to 2011. As a result of the lack of investment since then, the infrastructure of those private roads is deteriorating as we speak. We risk losing the investment we put into these roads up until 2011. The list for County Monaghan is 200 lanes. Something like 180 lanes in County Cavan are waiting to be done. What I am really looking for is a statement from the Minister that he intends to reintroduce this scheme so that a specific grant can be granted for local improvement schemes.