A total of €900,000 in funding has been allocated to Local Improvement Schemes (LIS) in Cork, according to Fine Gael TD for Cork East and Minister of State at the Department of Justice & Equality, David Stanton. The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) monies are made available by the Department of Rural and Community Development to local authorities to support improvement works on non-publically maintained rural roads.
“I am delighted to see that Cork County Council has been granted €900,000 this year which builds on the 2018 funding which enabled improvements to a total of 41 roads. This funding comes in addition to the 2019 allocation of €50.5 million by the Department of Transport to Cork County Council for local and regional road works, which was a 14.5% increase on last year and was over 10.5% of the total national budget.
“A total of €10 million has been made available to all local authorities under this tranche of the LIS. This follows on from a total nationwide LIS allocation of €21 million in 2018. Such funding will allow for the repair and improvement of small roads and laneways that are not maintained by local authorities, such as those leading to local people’s homes and businesses or to public amenities such as lakes, rivers or beaches”, said Minister Stanton.
The LIS was reintroduced by the Department of Rural and Community Development in 2017. The Department provides the majority of the funding, with the remaining contribution coming from local residents, or local authorities in the case of roads leading to public amenities. As part of the 2019 scheme, a cap of €1,200 has been placed on the amount that any individual householder or landowner will be asked to contribute towards repair costs.
Minister Stanton concluded: “The LIS was established in recognition of the importance of non-public rural roads to the people of rural Ireland. These roads often provide vital access to homes and farms, as well as local amenities, and their upkeep is essential to ensuring connectivity in rural areas.