Funding for local laneways and small roads in rural areas of the region has been raised in the Dail.
In his maiden speech in the Dail, raised the issue surrounding the LIS scheme with the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe.
The LIS funding stream provides funding for improvement works on small roads and laneways in rural Ireland, and gives farmers and homeowners a chance to get a lane or road brought up to a good standard. According to Deputy Maxwell, Monaghan County Council has 32 lanes on a historical list. It then received 273 applications last year. These applications have yet to be assessed.
"Assuming 80% of the applications are valid, that leaves the local authority with 218 valid applications. Based on current funding rates, we expect ten lanes to be surfaced each year, which would mean 22 years to clear the 2024 list."
"At the current rate, it will take three years to clear the historical list, and 22 years to deal with last year's applications, if current investment is not increased in the coming 25 years with no new lanes coming on to the list." Deputy Maxwell called for further funding to assist the Cavan/Monaghan areas.
Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe said he knows much work was done by his great predecessor, the former Minister, Heather Humphreys, with regard to this issue too and he wants to continue to build on this work.
"Regarding what the Deputy said, I understand that in his community, since 2017, 155 roads have now been completed under the local improvement scheme. The recent allocation that was made available was just under €1 million for the Deputy's community to respond to the issues he has raised."
