Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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2585. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the local improvement scheme; if she will urgently allocate further funding to the scheme to clear the backlog; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19914/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) is just one of a number of initiatives funded under my Department's Rural Development Investment Programme.

A total of €58 Million has been allocated under the Scheme since it was reintroduced in 2017 and this funding has benefited over 10,000 landowners and residents across 2,400 road projects. This has made a real difference to the landowners and residents on these roads and I understand that there continues to be considerable demand for more investment on other roads across the country.

This year I expect to allocate €10.5 million through the Local Improvement Scheme to support improvement works on these roads. This represents a 5% increase compared to last year. I will be launching the 2021 Local Improvement Scheme in the coming weeks and the allocation for each Local Authority area will be announced at that stage.