Humphreys confirms county funding for rural roads

Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys has confirmed the allocations to each local authority for upgrading non-public rural roads and laneways.

Earlier this month, the minister announced that funding for the upgrade of roads had been doubled to €21 million.

An additional €10.5 million has been added on top of the same figure that was allocated for investment under the 2021 Local Improvement Scheme (LIS).

These two lots of €10.5 million will be paid out in two rounds this year. They are broken down by county in the table at the end of this article.

The aim of the LIS is to support the improvement of non-public roads in rural communities and improve access to rural homes and farms, as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers, mountains and beaches.

These roads and laneways are not normally maintained by locally authorities.

The share of the additional funding that is being allocated to each county under this second round comes following engagement between the department and local authorities.

The allocations are based on the level of work that each authority indicated it could carry out before the end of the year.

The higher the level of demand that could be met by a local authority before the end of the year, the higher the level of funding they have been allocated.

The LIS scheme was re-introduced in 2017 and over 10,000 landowners and rural residents have benefitted to date, according to the department. It was reintroduced as part of the ‘Our Rural Future’ initiative.

“Our Rural Future, the government’s five-year policy for rural Ireland, commits to increasing the government’s investment in our rural roads through the LIS,” the minister said.

“So I was delighted to secure a further €10.5 million for the scheme, which doubles our investment this year to €21 million – the highest annual allocation since the scheme was reintroduced.”

Local authorities will be responsible for identifying and prioritising roads for improvement works under the scheme, in consultation with residents or landowners. The work must be completed by the end of the year.

On the issue of backlogs for improvement works, Minister Humphreys said: “My department over the coming months will work closely with local authorities to ensure that this funding is fully delivered this year so that rural residents can benefit.”

The allocation by county is broken down in the following table: