Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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59. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount of funding that has been provided to County Kerry in recent years under the local improvement scheme; the amount that was requested by Kerry County Council each year versus the amount allocated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9269/23]

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 was reintroduced by my Department in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding. I am committed to improving connectivity for rural residents, whether it be access to homes, farms or outdoor amenities. Since 2017, my Department has allocated almost €114 million to the scheme. This has upgraded some 3,700 non-public roads and lanes benefiting over 16,000 landowners and residents in these rural areas. During this period a total of €6.2 million was allocated to County Kerry which saw improvement works carried out on 173 roads.

Local authorities submit their priority lists to my Department based on the allocation indicated so the requests in any given year are in line with the funding allocated.

I launched the 2023 scheme earlier this month with an increase in the base funding to €12 million. I also announced an addition €0.55 million for improvement works on our offshore islands. Within this funding, I allocated €797,367 to County Kerry bringing their total allocation since the scheme was reintroduced to over €7 million.

The annual allocations for Kerry County Council are outlined in the attached table.

LIS Allocations

LIS Roads Completed