Laois communities getting small slice of €12.5 million to resurface laneways

Laois communities sharing laneways needing resurfacing are getting a share of €12.5 million national funding announced today under the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) grants.

Laois County Council will get €304,736 to share out to applicants on its waiting list for the scheme, which pays most of the cost to upgrade private rural roads and lanes.

It is expected to pay for between five and eight schemes, according to Director of Services, Simon Walton.

It is the first payment of the grant for 2023.

Last year over €860,000 was paid out in two waves of funding to Laois LIS schemes, fixing 14 lanes at an average of €61,500 each.

Some 52 schemes are still on the waiting list in Laois for the scheme, which was left unfunded for many years after the economic crash.

Neighbours Tipperary got almost €745,000 of the latest €12.5m allocation, Kilkenny got €361,000, Offaly got almost €350,000, and Kildare and Carlow got the very same allocation as Laois.

Minister Heather Humphreys announced over €12.5 million for upgrade works on rural roads and laneways, on Monday, February 13.

The investment is aimed to support vital road infrastructure in rural communities, as well as providing access to homes, farms and outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers and beaches.

“I am delighted to announce €12.55 million in funding to improve hundreds of roads and laneways in towns and villages across Rural Ireland.

“Local connectivity is absolutely vital for our rural communities and this investment will benefit the lives of families in every single county. We all know parts of rural Ireland that can be difficult to access because the road or laneway is in need of repair.

“The Local Improvement Scheme is about making people’s lives that bit easier, ensuring we have good access to homes, farms and our local amenities. This is what ‘Our Rural Future’ is all about – ensuring more and more people can live work and raise a family in rural communities throughout Ireland,” she said.

For the first time under the scheme, €500,000 is ringfenced to support rural roads on offshore islands.

Since this scheme was reintroduced in 2017, over 3,700 roads have been funded for repair works, totalling €112 million.

“I would urge each local authority to use the funding announced today and complete the repair works on the selected roads as soon as possible,” Minister Humphreys said.

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In Laois some 53 lanes were funded with the grants over the past two years, with 52 applications still on the waiting list. 

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Laois County Council began by funding the oldest lanes on the waiting list, which dated back 12 years, and is now working on applications made in 2019.

Applicants must pay a part of the cost. 

This is 10% of the estimated cost for eligible roads with up to and including five households/landowners, and 15% for those roads with six or more households/landowners. The maximum amount that any household/landowner is required to contribute is capped at €1,200.