Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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359. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if consideration will be given to extending the community involvement scheme for the new areas of Cork city which were areas of Cork county and should not be disadvantaged as a result of boundary changes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43591/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads (RLR) is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities' own resources supplemented by State road grants.  The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded  is also a matter for the local authority. 

The Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) is based on community contributions within the range of 15% to 30% and the purpose of the CIS is to facilitate local community participation in the repair of local roads. The focus of the programme is on the repair of more lightly trafficked public roads which might not be high on the list of a local authority's annual roadwork programme. 

Following the introduction of ring-fenced funding for a CIS programme in 2018 it was decided to provide funding over a two year period 2018/2019 so as to give local authorities more flexibility in delivering this programme. Towards the end of 2019, my Department invited local authorities to submit applications for CIS for another two year programme in the period 2020/2021. 

Applications for a successor CIS programme will be sought from local authorities, including Cork and Galway City Councils, later this year.