Funding for rural laneway upgrades doubled to €22m

Rural Ireland is set to receive a boost as the funding available for upgrading rural laneways and non-public roads this year has been doubled to €22 million.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys announced the change today (Monday, August 8), and said that counties will receive a significant increase in their allocation under the Local Improvement Scheme for 2022.

The focus of the scheme is to upgrade roads and laneways that provide access to homes, farms and outdoor amenities in rural Ireland.

In advance of today’s announcement, local authorities were asked to consult with local landowners and residents to identify road and laneway projects where works could begin immediately and finish this year.

There will be a ceiling of €1,200 on the amount that an individual landowner or householder can receive, and they will be asked to complement their funding with a financial contribution of their own.

Minister Humphreys outlined that in the common situation whereby there are multiple homes on a single laneway, “neighbours will work together to draw down funding under the scheme”. Making the announcement, she said:

“The recent census results show that the population of rural Ireland is growing. I want to see more people living, working and raising a family in our rural communities.

“The Local Improvement Scheme is about making life a little bit easier for those rural families who live on a laneway or non-public road. The scheme provides substantial grant aid for the upgrade of these routes and assists homeowners with the costs.”

The Department of Rural and Community Development has released details of where the funding has been allocated, which are as follows:

The DRCD outlined that this round of allocations was based on the level of works that local authorities indicated they could deliver by the end of the year following engagement with local residents and landowners.