€11 million has been announced to carry out upgrade works and repairs to rural roads and laneways through the Department of Rural and Community Development.

The aim of the funding is to improve access to homes, farms and outdoor amenities. The department says that this year’s funding is a €500,000 increase on the funding announced for 2021.

It brings to over €90 million the total funding granted to local authorities under the Local Improvement Scheme since 2017.

The funding was announced today (Tuesday, April 5) by Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys.

The funding is earmarked for improvements of non-public roads and lanes that are not normally maintained by the local authorities.

“Such roads represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents – providing access to people’s homes and farms, as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers or beaches,” the department said.

As well as the funding being increased overall, each local authority that will receive funding has also seen an increase in its allocation for rural roads in their jurisdictions.

The funding comes through the ‘Our Rural Future’ strategy for rural Ireland.

“Local connectivity is vital for rural communities. Our Rural Future clearly recognises this. The Local Improvement Scheme is an important source of funding for small non-public roads and laneways leading to homes and farms or to amenities such as lakes, rivers and beaches,” Minister Humphreys said.

“Since the scheme was reintroduced in 2017, over, 3,000 roads have been funded for repair works. This has made a real difference to the lives of over 13,000 landowners and residents in rural Ireland,” she argued.

The minister went on: “I acknowledge that strong demand for this funding remains across the country. In some counties, local authorities have significant levels of applications on hand. My priority is to continue to fund the works on roads leading to agricultural holdings given their importance for farm families and our agriculture sector.

“I would urge each local authority to utilise the funding announced today, and complete the repair works on the selected roads as soon as possible.

Local authorities are responsible for identifying and prioritising roads for improvement works under the scheme, in consultation with residents/landowners.

The funding provided by the Department of Rural and Community Development will be complemented by a local financial contribution from landowners/householders, as well as local authority resources.

There will be 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.

Eligible roads under the scheme are: non-public roads that provide access to parcels of agricultural land, or provide access for harvesting purposes (including turf or seaweed) for two or more persons; and non-public roads leading to important community locations such as graveyards, beaches, piers and mountains, among others.

Non-eligible roads are: roads serving only houses or buildings occupied or used by persons not engaged in agriculture; and roads leading to commercial enterprises.

The amount of funding to be allocated to each county is as follows (not every county is in line for funding):

  • Carlow – €351,880;
  • Cavan – €371,140;
  • Clare – €582,690;
  • Cork – €879,099;
  • Donegal – €716,560;
  • Galway – €958,831;
  • Kerry – €704,030;
  • Kildare – €351,880;
  • Kilkenny – €390,790;
  • Laois – €351,880;
  • Leitrim – €351,880;
  • Limerick – €485,970;
  • Longford – €351,880;
  • Louth – €351,880;
  • Meath – €340,500;
  • Monaghan – €351,880;
  • Offaly – €380,760;
  • Roscommon – €456,990;
  • Sligo – €358,030;
  • Tipperary – €644,070;
  • Waterford – €92,910;
  • Westmeath – €358,320;
  • Wexford – €431,760;
  • Wicklow – €384,390.