Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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39. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development in relation to the local improvement scheme, how much funding is available for County Meath under the scheme; what initiatives are taking place in County Meath; if she plans to increase funding available to County Meath under the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49690/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Local Improvement Scheme, or LIS, supports improving rural roads and laneways not usually maintained by local authorities.

As part of Our Rural Future, the Government is committed to ensuring that the LIS is funded into the future. LIS was reintroduced by my Department in 2017 following a number of years with no dedicated funding. Since 2017, my Department has allocated almost €130 million to the scheme, which has upgraded some 4,000 non-public roads and lanes, benefiting over 16,000 landowners and residents in these rural areas.

In 2023, Meath received a total allocation of €994,513 under the Local Improvement Scheme. This represents an increase of over €425,000 on funding provided in 2022. 14 roads are on track to be completed through LIS funding this year, an increase of 5 from 2022 when 9 roads were completed under the scheme.

Each year, my Department works closely with local authorities to ensure that the funding provided is fully utilised. In 2023, in a further effort to address the backlog and based on savings identified within the Department, a second round of funding was announced in July.

Since the re-introduction of LIS in 2017, Meath has received €4,268,231 in funding, 3.29% of the overall LIS budget to undergo repair works on non-public roads and laneways.

I will continue to closely monitor expenditure patterns in my Department, and should savings emerge, I will consider again allocating additional funding to the scheme in 2024.