Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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603. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a person with a part-time bed-and-breakfast business would be disqualified from applying for the local improvement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40281/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) is a key support to rural communities in improving non-public rural roads and laneways that are not typically maintained by local authorities. Since its reintroduction in 2017, the Government has provided almost €170 million to local authorities under the Scheme.

Under the terms of the Scheme, eligible road projects are those that involve the construction or improvement of non-public roads which provide access:

• to parcels of land, of which two or more are owned or occupied by different persons, one of which must be for agricultural purposes;
• for harvesting purposes (including turf or seaweed) for two or more persons; or
• to at least one parcel of land owned or occupied by a person engaged in agricultural activities and which separately provides access for harvesting purposes (including turf or seaweed) for at least one other person.

While the Department provides funding for LIS, the scheme is administered by local authorities who are responsible for selecting and prioritising roads for inclusion. Applications are received directly by local authorities, who engage with scheme beneficiaries to ensure roads selected for works adhere to the above scheme criteria.  

My Department has no role in determining the eligibility of specific road projects. Scheme documents are provided to local authorities for guidance on determining eligibility and can be found on the Department’s webpage on Gov.ie.