Funding to repair local rural roads and laneways

MININSTER of State Paul Kehoe has announced Government funding of €360,000 for Local Improvement Schemes in County Wexford.

The funding will pay for the repair and improvement of small roads and laneways leading to homes, businesses and beaches that are not covered by normal local authority maintenance programmes.

Deputy Kehoe said the Government hasn’t been able to adequately fund the LIS scheme for the past number of years but made a commitment to reinstate the scheme in the Programme for a Partnership Government.

‘I am delighted to be in a position now to honour that commitment. The scheme will be funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development and will be delivered through the local authority,’ he said.

‘ The ability of people to access their own premises, a farmyard or a neighbour’s house is compromised when roads are in a bad state of repair. For emergency services, too, bad road surfaces can lead to delays in accessing sites and can damage their vehicles’, said Deputy Kehoe. The Wexford funding is part of a €10 million financial package for the scheme nationwide.

A small contribution will be required from householders (10-15% of the total cost) and local authorities. ‘We want rural Ireland to be a better place in which to live and work by creating new opportunities, improving connectivity and by protecting and enhancing services in the community’, said Deputy Kehoe.