€418,000 to improve non-public roads in rural areas of Mayo

A FURTHER €418,000 in funding has been allocated to Mayo County Council under the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS), to support the improvement of non-public rural roads in 2017.

This follows on from the provision of €855,000 under the LIS scheme for Mayo last September and brings to the amount spent on improvements to small local roads in Mayo to over €1,270,000 this year.

Making the announcement, the Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring said: “The Local Improvement Scheme is about improving small roads and laneways in rural Ireland which are not under the normal maintenance of the local authorities. 

“There was a huge demand for funding for such roads when I contacted the local Authorities in September 2017 and I was unable to meet that demand at that time.

“For people who live in rural areas, road connectivity is hugely important. These roads give access to homes, farmyards, agricultural land and business premises, and are often heavily used, but because they fall outside of direct local authority control, many need upgrading.”

The announcement by Minister Ring is part of a €7.4 million national investment in non-public roads around rural Ireland. This brings to €17.4 million, the amount invested by the Government in non-public roads this year.