Record €40 million funding to upgrade rural laneways

It marks the highest ever allocation for the scheme, and aims to provide essential funding to improve road access to homes and farms in rural areas.

The allocation includes €1.1 million in ring-fenced funding for road upgrades on offshore islands in Cork, Galway, Donegal, Mayo and Sligo. 

Speaking as she announced the allocation this week, Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys said: “LIS is a critical source of funding for small 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 access their homes and farms on good quality surfaces.”

The Minister revealed that in response to feedback, she has amended the LIS criteria so that only one herd number will be necessary for a valid LIS application; previously two were required.

She added that she is providing “greater flexibility so that local authorities can use their allocation throughout 2024 and 2025”. 

This announcement brings to a total of almost €170 million that has been allocated to local authorities under the scheme since it was reintroduced in 2017. 

The total allocations per local authority area are as follows: