Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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589. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will advise on funding allocations for the local improvement scheme by year from 2017 to 2022, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38364/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities. As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the LIS is funded into the future. The scheme makes an important contribution to connectivity in rural Ireland.

The scheme was reintroduced in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding.  From 2017 to 2021, my Department has allocated funding towards improvement works on over 3,000 non-public roads and lanes benefiting over 13,300 landowners and residents in these rural areas.

Last year, I was in a position to double the initial LIS allocation to €21 million following the identification of savings in other capital areas. I was pleased, as part of Budget 2022, to announce an increase in the base funding for LIS from €10.5 million to €11 million this year bringing the total allocation since 2017 to over €90 million. This year, I am continuing to closely monitor expenditure patterns. Should savings emerge, I will give consideration to again allocating additional funding to the scheme.

The table below sets out the allocations to each county since the scheme was reintroduced in 2017.