A total of €10 million is set to be made available in a new round of funding for Local Improvement Schemes (LIS), Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring has announced.

This will support the continued improvement of non-public rural roads that enable people to access their homes and farms.

This means that over €47 million has now been allocated to local authorities under the LIS since Minister Ring re-introduced the scheme in September 2017.

It was also revealed that the 2019 LIS will include a cap of €1,200 on the amount that any individual householder or landowner will be asked to contribute towards the cost of repairs to their road.

Commenting, Minister Ring said: “This scheme continues to be a lifeline for people living in rural areas because it directly improves their access to and from their homes and farms.

“By investing in the improvement of these roads we are helping to improve people’s quality of life in rural areas.”

Speaking in relation to the cap on contributions from individuals, the minister said: “I am conscious of the high cost of repairing some of the more remote rural roads and the impact this can have on the contribution which people living and farming along those roads can be asked to make.

“As part of the scheme in 2019 I am placing a cap of €1,200 on the amount that any individual householder or landowner will be asked to contribute towards the cost of repairs.”

Local authorities will be notified of their overall indicative allocation from the new €10 million round, as established below.

The minister concluded, saying: “I cannot overstate how important local connectivity is in order to enable rural Ireland to function well.

“The Action Plan for Rural Development prioritises the improvement of rural infrastructure and connectivity and continuing to support and develop an LIS scheme is just one of the measures we are taking in that regard.”

The new round of funding will be released in two tranches:
  • Once local authorities have certified completion of projects approved under the October 2018 announcement, 50% of the funding will be made available;
  • The balance will be made available at a later stage, following completion of this next phase of projects.