Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-30
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

Deputy Clendennen is absolutely right. I love the local improvement scheme. It works really well. It makes a real difference to rural communities. As he said, people in rural communities who are always looking to get on and help themselves but sometimes are looking for just a little support as well. It is also clear that people like the LIS, and that is why there has been such a demand. We have seen that across the Deputy's county in places like Birr in the context of the carrying out of works on non-public roads that are not normally maintained by local authorities at all. Since 2020, Offaly County Council has been allocated more than €4.5 million in LIS funding.
I have discussed this issue with the Minister, Deputy Calleary, who has responsibility for this. He has confirmed that during the course of the year, spending trends across the Department will be monitored and that it will look to reallocate any savings which may arise to schemes such as the local improvement scheme. I am hoping that there may progress on that throughout the course of the year whereby if we see that there is an underspend in one area, we can reallocate the money to an area like County Offaly where there is acute demand. I will keep in touch with the Deputy on this.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-30