Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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344. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she expects to be in a position to support local improvement schemes initiated by local authorities in the current year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40902/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not usually maintained by local authorities. As part of Our Rural Future, the government is committed to ensuring that the LIS is funded in the future.

In April of this year, I announced over €40 million in funding for the 2024 and 2025 Schemes, having secured an additional once off funding allocation in respect of 2024. The announcement of LIS funding over 2 years was aimed towards helping local authorities better plan their work programmes in dealing with demand at local level.

This announcement brings the total amount of funding provided for LIS by my Department since its establishment in 2017 to just under €170 million. To date, this funding has resulted in improvement works on over 4,000 roads, benefitting almost 20,000 landowners and residents in these rural areas. Kildare County Council was allocated a total of €1.075m million in funding across 2024/2025.

For works completed in 2024, local authorities have until November to submit documentation to draw down funding. They can submit their 2025 priority lists for approval from January 2025 to afford local authorities the maximum time possible to complete projects.