2026-05-21

88. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to review the level of funding for local improvement roads schemes for the current year, in view of the level of demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37944/26]

The local improvement scheme is very important for local roads. The local community makes a contribution of between 10% and 15%. The level of funding this year in the case of Laois dropped by €1,000. I was hoping it would be a bit more. I ask that the funding for this year be reviewed.

I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing interest in this area. The local improvement scheme, LIS, provides for the upgrading of non-public rural roads and laneways typically not maintained by local authorities. It was reintroduced in 2017. Since 2017, funding of over €200 million has been allocated to local authorities and over 5,500 roads have been improved. In February this year, I was pleased along with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to launch the 2026 scheme. We confirmed base funding for 2026 of €17.5 million which represents an increase on the initial base funding made available in 2025. Laois County Council received a 2026 allocation of almost €470,000. The total allocated to Laois since 2017 is over €6.6 million. My officials are engaging with local authorities which have submitted their priority road lists for 2026. They have now received approval to proceed with the works. I have directed that scheme spend be monitored closely to ensure that funding is fully utilised and not returned to the Department and that as many road improvements as possible are completed under the scheme this year. Parallel to that process, I will be monitoring spending within my Department over the coming months to identify any potential savings that can be reallocated to the LIS programme. I am very aware of the importance of the scheme to councils and rural communities. It is a priority for the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and me. We continue to monitor expenditure within the Department. We are also asking local authorities to consider their level of expenditure on each road. There are considerable disparities in expenditure on the scheme from local authority to local authority. We are zeroing-in on that to ensure there is a common spend around the country. In that way, we will also achieve more roads being completed.

I think the Minister will find that with Laois not too much money comes back to the Department. It tends to get used. I agree with him about using it well. It is a 10% contribution where there are five residents or landowners or fewer and 15% where there are more than six. The funding for Laois is actually €469,000. It was €470,000 last year and nine schemes are approved locally for this year but there are more than 80 on the waiting list. Some are more urgent than others. The Minister will appreciate that, as will anyone who is local councillor or constituency TD. I highlight to the Minister the western Slieve Bloom area - he was in Mountrath recently and saw how money was spent very well in the wonderful Cafe Donate and the river walk, etc. With the topography, a lot of those roads are over peat and bad land. At this rate, it will take nearly ten years to complete what is on the scheme. That is if the scheme is closed. The Minister knows more will come on next year and the year after. It is a matter of trying to keep ahead. It requires more funding.

Laois completed 18 roads in 2025 and 81 are outstanding on the list we have. We had a really successful visit to Laois with Deputy Stanley and with Deputies Fleming and Aird some weeks back. I saw the fantastic work Laois County Council is doing. I pay tribute to that work. I could literally throw the entire budget of the Department at LIS and still have waiting lists. Other Departments also have responsibilities in terms of regional and public roads funding in rural areas. It cannot just be this Department that takes on that burden. We are working closely with other Departments on that. We are looking at our expenditure as we are nearly six months through the year. I reiterate the necessity for every local authority to complete and spend the money allocated to them in a given year. If money is returned by local authorities, it makes my job in the Department of putting extra resources into this programme even more difficult.

In his reply the Minister said some local authorities may not use it. There may be indications throughout the year that some local authorities are not going to use it. I understand there is not an endless pot of funding and it is not down to the Department of community and rural affairs solely but in relation to this scheme, it is. I ask that where there is a surplus of funding or unused funding that the funding be reviewed. I am with the Minister in relation to spending it well and getting a good return for it. The county council is very good at making sure the local contribution is made by local residents and landowners. It is important that happens. We are in a standstill situation. The cost of roadworks has gone up 15% with contractors. It is between 10% and 15% extra this year, so it is not even a standstill situation. Only about 80% of the work that was done last year will be done this year with the level of funding we have, which is €1,000 less at €469,000.

We are very aware in the Department of the increase in costs, in particular over the past three months since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East. That directly impacts road costs in particular. That is why the Department will be flexible. If I can see underspends, LIS will be a priority. Our capital delivery teams are engaging with local authorities that are serial offenders as regards sending money back. We tried to get notification of the approval of schemes out to councils earlier this year so that they could get work under way in the so-called summer period and get most of that work done. Looking around, I see that nearly everybody here is a rural Deputy. I encourage every Deputy to engage with the management of their local authorities in respect of LIS to ensure they are spending the allocation they are getting because, as I have said, it is not good for local authorities to be sending back money. I want money spent, particularly where it is capital money. I encourage engagement at local management level around LIS budgets.