Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 July 2024
468. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of roads per county or local authority which were not approved for funding from the local improvement scheme, in tabular form. [30756/24]
View answerThe Local Improvement Scheme (LIS), funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development, helps local authorities improve small roads and laneways in rural areas not normally maintained by local authorities.
Eligible road projects are those that involve the construction or improvement of non-public roads as follows:
• to parcels of land, of which two or more are owned or occupied by different persons, one of which must be engaged in agricultural activities or
• for harvesting purposes (including turf or seaweed) for two or more persons or
• to at least one parcel of land owned or occupied by a person engaged in agricultural activities and which separately provides access for harvesting purposes (including turf or seaweed) for at least one other person.
In addition, work can be carried out on amenity roads, which are non-public roads leading to essential community amenities such as graveyards, beaches, piers, mountain access points, or other tourist/heritage sites.
The responsibility for determining the eligibility and selection of road projects to be completed within each county is a matter exclusively for each local authority. Local authorities submit their priority lists to my Department and each local authority retains the waiting lists of roads awaiting repair under the Scheme.
As such, the Department does not hold information regarding the number of roads per county or local authority area which were not approved for funding under LIS.
