Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1495. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason the revised local improvement scheme has a requirement that agricultural use much be proven for a road to be eligible for the scheme in view of the large number of rural persons that are not farmers and are living on poor roads that are not taken in charge by the council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22470/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Local Improvement Scheme, or LIS, is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas which are not under the normal maintenance of the Local Authorities. The scheme is funded by my Department and is administered through the Local Authorities.

As the Deputy will be aware, there was no dedicated funding available for this scheme for a number of years until it was re-launched in 2017. Since then, over €58 million has been allocated to the Local Authorities to deliver the scheme.

In March this year, €10 million was made available for the 2020 Local Improvement Scheme, with each Local Authority being provided with the same financial allocation as 2019.

The 2020 scheme continues the established principle that eligible roads include those that provide access to parcels of land of which two or more are owned or occupied by different persons engaged in separate agricultural activities. This is not a new requirement.

The 2020 Scheme Outline provides an additional clarification that applicants must provide documentation to verify that they are engaged in agricultural activities on the parcels of land accessed by the road project. The Scheme Outline also provides examples of the type of documentation required. This documentation will help to verify the eligibility of the expenditure awarded under the Scheme.

Other eligible roads under the LIS include those used for harvesting purposes and amenity roads used by the public for access to important community amenities.