Minister Ring announces the upgrade of over 400 private roads under the 2018 Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) countrywide
- Foilsithe: 23 Aibreán 2018
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 20 Samhain 2018
Improvements to over 1,100 roads supported since reintroduction of LIS last year
The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring TD, has today published a list of over 400 private roads which have been selected for upgrade under the 2018 Local Improvement Scheme (LIS).
Minister Ring allocated €10 million for road improvements to county councils around the country as part of the 2018 LIS scheme. The lists of projects which the councils plan to undertake under the scheme this year have now been submitted to the Department of Rural and Community Development.
Detailed information regarding the projects selected by the local authorities in each county can be found at Local Improvement Scheme - Roads Approvals 2018 and the total allocations by county for the Local Roads Improvement Scheme (LIS) in 2018 can be found at Figures spent on Local Roads Improvements 2018
Welcoming the details submitted to his department, Minister Ring said:
“The Local Improvement Scheme is about improving small roads and laneways in rural Ireland which are not under the normal maintenance of the local authorities.
“This scheme is a lifeline for people living in rural areas because it directly improves their access to and from their homes and farms.
“Many people living and working in rural areas use these roads every time they enter or leave their home or farm, so the condition of their access road really impacts on them. Investing in the improvement of these roads really makes a positive impact on people’s quality of life in rural areas.
“I reintroduced dedicated funding for the LIS in September 2017, after a gap of eight years. I know that the reintroduction of the scheme has already made a huge difference for rural communities around the country.
“The €10 million which I have allocated to the scheme this year will fund improvements to over 400 roads around the country. This funding builds on the €17 million provided by my department in 2017 and brings to over 1,100 the number of roads which have been supported since last September.
“I cannot overstate how important local connectivity is in order to enable rural Ireland to function well. The Action Plan for Rural Development prioritises improving rural infrastructure and connectivity, and continuing to support an LIS scheme is just one of the measures we are taking in that regard.
“Many lanes and boreens which link private homes and farms are not on the public road network and so are not maintained by the local authorities. The LIS is therefore a very valuable support for rural families and businesses that use these roads on a daily basis.”
The number of roads on which improvement works will be carried out in 2018 under the LIS on a county-by-county basis is as follows:
| County | Allocation under LIS | Number of Roads to be improved |
| Carlow | € 250,000 | 15 |
| Cavan | € 295,000 | 5 |
| Clare | € 482,000 | 13 |
| Cork | € 1,000,000 | 41 |
| Donegal | € 884,000 | TBC* |
| Galway | € 942,000 | 27 |
| Kerry | € 727,000 | 33 |
| Kildare | € 250,000 | 8 |
| Kilkenny | € 315,000 | 8 |
| Laois | € 264,000 | 9 |
| Leitrim | € 250,000 | 11 |
| Limerick | € 411,000 | 9 |
| Longford | € 250,000 | 13 |
| Louth | € 250,000 | 5 |
| Mayo | € 855,000 | 77 |
| Meath | € 359,000 | 8 |
| Monaghan | € 250,000 | 16 |
| Offaly | € 290,765 | 13 |
| Roscommon | € 370,290 | 56 |
| Sligo | € 282,000 | 10 |
| Tipperary | € 625,582 | 17 |
| Waterford | € 282,000 | 12 |
| Westmeath | € 282,000 | 9 |
| Wexford | € 360,000 | 14 |
| Wicklow | € 310,000 | 6 |
| TOTALS | € 10,836,637 | 435 |
(*The number of roads to be improved in Co Donegal is being finalised by the county council.)
ENDS
Notes for editors
- the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) is a scheme for carrying out improvement works on private and non-publicly maintained roads. Often these roads lead to multiple residences, parcels of land that support agricultural activity or to amenities such as lakes, rivers or beaches
- due to the pressures on public finances during the recent recessionary period, specific allocations to local authorities for the LIS scheme had to be curtailed. This support was previously channelled through the former Department of the Environment and subsequently through the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
- the Programme for a Partnership Government incudes a commitment to “reinstate a fully funded Local Improvement Scheme to support the maintenance and repair of non-local authority roads”. This commitment was addressed through the relaunch of the LIS scheme by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring TD, in 2017
- the reintroduction of the LIS is also an important part of the delivery of the government’s Action Plan for Rural Development. One of the pillars of the action plan focuses on improving rural infrastructure and connectivity
- a provisional list of roads to be improved under the scheme in 2018 is available on the department’s website at drcd.gov.ie