Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)
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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.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Kennelly for raising this issue. As he knows, the LIS is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas that are not normally maintained by local authorities. The scheme is funded by my Department but administered through the local authorities. It is important to note that the focus of the scheme is supporting the continued improvement of non-public rural roads and laneways that would not normally be regularly maintained by local authorities. As we both agree, these roads are vital pieces of infrastructure for rural residents. The scheme was reintroduced in 2017, and since then the Government has allocated almost €184 million allocated to local authorities.

The programme for Government commits to the provision of additional funding for the LIS. Last August, I was delighted to be able to provide an additional round of funding to local authorities for 2025. It was almost double the previous allocation committed. It saw the 2025 budget increase to €30 million. As the Senator has said, Kerry County Council was given €1.2 million in additional funding, bringing the total funding for Kerry in 2025 to over €2.2 million. The council has confirmed that it is utilising this funding to make good approximately 38 roads in the county this year.

Since 2017, Kerry has been allocated some €11.6 million in LIS funding. I am committed to ensuring the scheme continues to be well funded in the coming years. As part of budget 2026, my Department has received €17 million in LIS funding for the scheme next year. This represents an increase on the base funding announced in recent years.

While my Department provides funding for the scheme, it is administered by local authorities. They are responsible for managing the waiting lists and scheme applications and for determining the eligibility of roads. My officials are engaging closely with Kerry County Council.

While in previous years, a small number of local authorities, not including Kerry, did not spend their full allocations and returned the money, I have insisted to colleagues in local government that this must not happen again.To try to limit this happening and to maximise works completed, my Department officials are engaging with each local authority to understand where full spending may not occur and the potential to redistribute funds to local authorities that will be in a position to utilise them.

I assure the Senator his suggestion in relation to that is something I will keep very much alive. This is a very important scheme. I have made it a priority in the Department since my appointment in January. The officials in the Department know this is a priority for me. The money we were able to allocate in August was money that resulted in savings from other schemes within the Department. I was determined to ensure this money would be invested in the LIS. I continue to keep the scheme under review and to support the counties that spend the money efficiently and on time and do not return LIS funds to the Department.

Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. That is fantastic. His last few words were that it is under review and that local authorities should spend it efficiently. When we see 580 roads on the local improvement list in Kerry, it is very unfortunate and disappointing that some authorities are not even taking up their allocation. I propose that if moneys are not taken up this year as well, that funding should be extended to other counties like Kerry to catch up on the backlog. I would like the Minister to do his best to keep it under review. If we can locate more funding going forward, it would be very welcome indeed.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Absolutely. I assure the Senator of my commitment to the LIS. I am engaging with officials on it. There are disparities in the funding per km across local authorities and I want to get a national standard on that. If we get a national standard, that will result in more roads being done in the counties that are delivering. I am also looking at the level of expenditure. Sometimes we gold-plate roads, as it were, when that is not necessary. We need to give a workable surface that people can travel on; we do not need gold-plating. If we can come to an agreement on the standard that is safe and efficient but not gold-plated, we will cover an awful lot more roads and give people a lot more access to their homes, farms and property.