The Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys is to seek more funding for improvements to rural roads and laneways.
The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) was raised in the Dáil on Tuesday by Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae.
The Kerry TD said there were 673 applications on the waiting list for the scheme in the county.
He said that the €800,000 allocated to Kerry earlier this year will only cover the works on 15 roads. The TD added that at the current rate of funding it will take up to 30 years to clear the waiting list in the county.
“They [the roads and laneways] are used by households, farmers and service providers, including doctors and public health nurses.
“These people pay their motor tax, income tax, VAT and excise the same as the people in Dublin,” Healy-Rae said.
Rural roads
Over €114 million has been allocated to the LIS since it was reintroduced by the government in 2017.
This has upgraded some 3,700 non-public roads and lanes, which are not normally maintained by local authorities, benefiting over 16,000 landowners and residents.
Minister Humphreys said that over €7 million has been allocated to Kerry through the LIS over the past seven years.
She noted that Kerry County Council did not spend €145,000 or 10% of its total LIS allocation in 2022.
“I will continue to monitor expenditure within my department and should savings emerge, I will give consideration to allocating additional funding to the scheme.
“Indeed, I have recently asked all local authorities to inform my department as to how many more projects they could deliver this year, should any such funding become available,” she said.
“I know what it is like if the milk lorry cannot get in to get the milk or the meal lorry cannot get in to delivery the meal. I fully understand that.
“I grew up on a farm and I lived on a lane that was a mile long. There were potholes on it sometimes and you would nearly get lost – bicycle and all.
“I explain to the officials in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, as the deputy does, what these local improvement schemes are.
“They are not private lanes. The deputy is dead right; many people use them.
“We are talking about once-off funding. Once-off funding could go into these lanes because if they are fixed, they will last 15 years. They are a good investment in rural Ireland. I absolutely support it.
“I will be knocking on the door to get more funding for the lanes. The deputy can be sure of that now and he will help me,” Minister Humphreys said.