Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the Seanad. It is my first time speaking to him on a Commencement matter. I raise the issue of funding for local improvement schemes, LIS. The LIS, as it is commonly known in all local authorities, is essential for maintaining private roads that serve multiple homes, farms and rural businesses. These roads are often the only access routes for families and communities. Their upkeep is vital for everyone's safety, connectivity and rural development.

Across the country, county councils are working hard to meet the growing demand under the LIS programme but the funding available falls short of what is needed. For example, 580 roads are currently on the waiting list for repair in County Kerry. The Kerry County Council, in accordance with its actual capacity, which means what it can achieve, requested €5 million to address this backlog but received just €2.2 million, less than half of what was sought. To its credit, the council expects to complete up to 38 roads in the current year, which is very welcome.However, the scale of the backlog remains very significant and many communities will continue to wait, despite having met the criteria and being willing to contribute their share. In reality, the roads have gone beyond repair in many cases, and waiting for years ultimately has a telling effect.

Kerry has the largest number of local roads in the country under the LIS, and that is one victory in Kerry we are not happy with. Let me put the matter into perspective. When the scheme opened in 2018, 804 applications came in, of which 737 were added to the priority list for completion. Kerry County Council has 580 roads remaining, with 137 done since the scheme began. At this rate, the last road on the list will not be completed for 15 years, and as a result some of the people in the affected communities will not live to see the works on their roads completed.

Kerry County Council has indicated in recent application requests to the Department that an additional €5 million per annum is what is realistically needed to complete the roads projects on target in a calendar year. I urge the Minister to support me and the residents on the roads with extra funding of €5 million per annum for Kerry. This will have to be addressed across the country in addition to Kerry.

We got €2.2 million in Kerry County Council. If that were increased – allowing for a doubling of the number of roads completed in a year, which will be 38 this year – we would start to eat into the backlog.

We need to put plans in place to review the whole current funding model for the LIS nationally. Can consideration be given to counties with particularly high demand, such as Kerry, the county I represent? Might additional resources be available to help councils to clear these backlogs more effectively? It is hard to digest a waiting period of 15 years. I appreciate the Department’s ongoing support for rural communities and rural development and the Minister's role in this regard, but today I urge that additional funding be put aside for the LIS, not just for Kerry, where I am proud to be from, but also for the rest of the country.