Brendan Smith presses for renewed Local Improvement Scheme funding

I appreciate you facilitating this question. Minister, as you know, up until 2012 there was a substantial, specific funding stream for the Local Improvement Scheme, unfortunately, that ceased at that time. As we know, the Local Improvement Scheme provides for the upgrading of more minor local roads, which are particularly important for rural communities. At present, there is a huge backlog of such roads in most counties needing urgent attention. There is a limited scheme at present, but what we need is a substantial investment by the Line Department on a annual basis to ensure that this backlog is eliminated as soon as possible. Thank you, Accoheirleach. Thank you very much indeed, Deputy Smith. Since the 2008 recession, a significant backlog of works on regional and local roads has built up, as you say, in all local authority jurisdictions across the country. The estimated cost of the backlog is in excess of 5 billion euros. For this reason, grant assistance from the Department continues to be focused on the protection and renewal of the public road network network. It bears restating that the public regional road network is over 96,000 kilometres in size, and while there has been significant increases in grant funding in recent years, it has not been possible to address the backlog of works across the country, even with 90% of available funds being directed to protection and renewal works. For this reason, and in view of the funding being provided under a local improvement scheme by the Department of Rural and Community Development, I consider that I need to continue to concentrate funding on public roads. If I were to consider allocating funding for non-public roads, this would reduce the funding available for public roads. For this reason, and in view of the funding being provided under a Local Improvement Scheme by the Department of Rural and Community Development, I consider that I need to continue to concentrate funding on public roads. If I were to consider allocating funding for non-public roads, this would reduce the funding available for public roads. In this context, one initiative taken since the Department of Rural and Community Development's introduction of a Local Improvement Scheme is the provision by the Department of Ring-fenced funding for the Community Involvement Scheme. This scheme is designed to provide for the repair of more lightly tracked public rural roads, which tend to be considered only towards the end of Local Road Authority's annual road work programmes. Under this scheme, €29 million approximately was paid to Local Authorities over the two-year period from 2020 to 2021, and this year's grant included funding of a further €15.2 million for that Community Scheme. All available grant funding for 2022 has been allocated, there was an increased allocation, recognising that this investment in our local roads is important for safety, for rural connectivity, for saving money in the long run, because if you let them go, it is much more expensive to get them back, but it was on that basis that we are allocating the funding. Minister, the reply prepared by the Department is somewhat inaccurate, in that the backlog does not go back to 2008, it began in 2012, and you and I were members of a government up to 2011 that provided very substantial funding for the Local Improvement Scheme. Minister, I agree with you that we need huge investment in a regional and local network, and when you met Fianna Fáil or Oireachtas members with myself, you may recall that I highlighted that time the need to keep investment in the non-national road network to ensure that we didn't lose the investment that had already been put in. But at the same time, Minister, there are many laneways and local roads that I know, that there are 10 or 12 families living along, people of all age groups, people who thankfully have come back to live in their own local community. In many of these areas, we have the infrastructure in place, be it schools, sporting facilities, the social infrastructure. I now would have queries from people who want to move back to rural Ireland, they'll ask me, Brendan, is there any chance of the road that I have a site along, that I want to go back to live in my own home place? Is there any chance that that road would be brought to an acceptable and appropriate standard for those people who are paying their tax, the same as the people living in the urban areas, who have good roads, good road surfaces, footpaths and public lighting. These people have been denied a proper road surface to their homes, which is not acceptable, Minister, and you would agree with me on that, I'm sure. Thank you, Oka Healy. You're welcome. No, I'd agree, and you're right, going back to 2008, that government did a lot with very difficult times and very stretched funding and did put prioritise into that investment, as you said. We need to do the similar, particularly at this moment in post-Covid, when there's a chance to see revival of rural Ireland, I accept that. That means I have to fund, we have to fund the new Connecting Ireland Rural Public Transport System, which is, I think, going to be a huge benefit and help people in rural Ireland. That's why we did increase the funding for local roads and make sure we maintained the funding for public road maintenance, because if we let that go, then it costs a lot more to bring it back. That's why the Minister for Rural and Community Development doubled the funding for the Local Improvement Scheme under her budget allocation in 2021, providing an additional £10.5 million, up to £21 million funding. So it's not that there's no recognition of the importance of rural connectivity. It's those three measures, bus services, public roads, and through Minister Humphreys, that Local Improvement Scheme funding. I welcome funding that has been provided through the Department of Rural Community Development, but in the past, Minister, you will recall that when the Community and Rural Development Department had a CLAW programme, it used to be a top-up to the line department's funding. Minister, the people whom I'm not talking about, they're living down small local roads that no public transport would be going, but they're entitled to a proper standard of road to their own homes. And again, policy is contradictory. We want people out of the major urban areas. We want less pressure and housing in our major cities, major towns. We have the infrastructure, by and large, in place in rural Ireland. With a relatively small investment, that important road network can be brought up to a proper standard. Minister, would you happen to recall what capital funding in 2021 did your department not draw down? If there is another spend on the capital side in your department during the course of this year, then it should be reallocated to councils and allocated specifically for a Local Improvement Scheme, and you would see huge value for government investment. Minister, I will appeal to you again to look at this particular needs of rural communities of all age groups. Thank you. Minister, to conclude. I should have mentioned in my last response that of course, there is also, as I said in my earlier first response, our department's investment in the community involvement schemes. Since the introduction of that ring-fenced funding for community investment schemes in 2018, there has been a significant increase with funding allocation in two-year tranches. £14.3 million approximately was paid to local authorities for the community scheme last year. A new round of funding is starting this year for the 2022-23 period. While community contributions in the range of 15-30% had been required previously, depending on the mix of works and monies, the contribution rate has now been reduced to a minimum of 10% for monetary contributions, and 20% for work contributions. It is not that our department does not have any involvement, it is through that mechanism, as well as the Department of Rural Affairs, as well as what we spend on public roads, as well as the new money we are going to spend in rural bus connectivity. I hope we will attract those people back, as you said, or are thinking of coming back to live in rural areas. Minister, can you give me a privilege that you and your department colleagues will be doing an analysis of the capital spend throughout the year. If there is a slowness in drawing down some of the capital funding under any particular heading, will you give due consideration to providing funding that is not drawn down by other sections to the road section, specifically for local improvement scheme? Thank you. We constantly look at that, and there was an underspend, largely because of Covid last year, and unfortunately a lot of the underspend has never been in the roads programme. We have a machine for building and the spending roads. The underinvestment has been in the public transport and in the act of travel. And I do believe, particularly for rural Ireland, if I do have that underspend, in my mind it is in the rural public transport where I would like to really focus. Thanks for your patience.