The Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, has today announced the opening of the 2026 Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) which will provide €17.55 million for repairs and improvement works on non-public rural roads and laneways under the scheme.
This investment demonstrates the continued commitment of the Government to vital road infrastructure in rural Ireland, providing access to people's homes and farms.
Cavan/Monaghan Fianna Fail TD Brendan Smith welcomed today's announcement.
He told Northern Sound: "I welcome today's announcement by Minister Dara Calleary of €527,400 for County Cavan and €385,880 for County Monaghan under the Local Improvement Scheme.
"The Local Improvement Scheme is extremely important for many families living in rural areas. Indeed it is a Scheme that needs more investment as there were a number of years when there was very little funding provided for these essential road works."
Meanwhile, speaking as he announced the allocations today, Minister Calleary said: "I am delighted to announce funding today of €17.55 million for the Local Improvement Scheme which is an increase of €2 million which I secured in Budget 2026. This includes over €500,000 ringfenced to be spent specifically on LIS eligible roads on our offshore islands.
"This scheme will improve hundreds of rural roads and laneways across the country and is a vital source of funding for non-public roads not normally maintained by local authorities.
"It's a fantastic scheme under which the homeowners and farmers who use the lane make a small local contribution and the Government provides the balance of funding to ensure that people can continue to access their homes and farms on good quality surfaces."
Speaking to Northern Sound, local Councillor Carmel Brady also welcomed the funding for rural laneways while vowing to keep pressure on.
"I'd like to welcome the 527,000 announced today for rural laneways. This is the scheme where the residents on the laneways pays a small contribution towards the overall cost of the work to be done. It's good for people who live off the main national network and of course it's not enough but it's a start and I will keep emphasising to our TDs and our ministers the need for more funding for rural roads and laneways because at the end of the day that is where all the food produce comes out, the milk, the chickens, the beef and the pigs. So we will keep the pressure on to get more funding for our rural laneways."
