Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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17. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the progress she has made in seeking a funding commitment from the Department of Transport for the local improvement scheme given the level of demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8612/22]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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23. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the steps she is taking to address the backlog in local improvement scheme applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8288/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 23 together.

As part of 'Our Rural Future', the Government is committed to ensuring that the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) is funded into the future. This reflects the important contribution which the scheme makes to connectivity in rural Ireland. The LIS supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities.

The Local Improvement Scheme was reintroduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding.  Since then my Department has allocated €80 million towards improvement works on over 3,000 non-public roads and lanes. These works have benefited over 13,300 landowners and residents in these rural areas.

I launched the 2021 Scheme with an initial budget of €10.5 million. I was very pleased to source additional funding during the year and allocated a further round of funding to bring the total for 2021 to €21 million.

I was also pleased, as part of Budget 2022 to announce an increase in the base funding for LIS from €10.5 million to €11 million for this year. I will be launching this year's scheme in the coming weeks at which point individual county council allocations will be made known.

I have continued to actively engage with my colleague, Minister Ryan, to explore the potential for further financial support for LIS from his Department. While I accept that his Department's priority at the moment remains the upkeep and maintenance of national and local public roads, I believe a cross- Government approach might reap dividends in tackling the backlog of applications on hand in local authorities. I will continue to pursue this with Minister Ryan.