Mayo miss out on vital LIS funding due to funding fiasco

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, has today announced funding of €11 million for repairs and improvement works on our rural roads and laneways.

But there is no allocation for Mayo due to the county council having to refund over €1.2 million to the department for claiming funding for the Clew Bay cycle route that was never spent.

The news has outraged elected members of Mayo County Council who have already seen the authority missing out on over €3 million in other funding allocations due to a situation recently highlighted by the RTÉ Investigates team in their programme, 'Council Chamber Secrets'.

Councillor Donna Sheridan said this is a new low in the controversy as communities lose out on significant funding for continued improvement of non-public roads and lanes that are not normally maintained by the local authority.

She said: "This is, to say the least, a further and significant disappointment for the county in the aftermath of the issues identified by a government auditor in respect of the Clew Bay cycling route/Greenway proposal.

"The need to urgently address the issues once and for all cannot be underestimated. It's a crisis we have to grasp and the sooner the batter."

She is supported by her Castlebar elected colleague, Councillor Ger Deere.

He said it is not sustainable for Mayo to be consistently missing out on major funding of this nature because of mistakes made in respect of the Greenway project in Louisburgh and Achill.

"When you see what other counties have received today, including our neighbours Galway (958,831), Donegal (€716,560) and Cork (€879,099), it brings home the level of loss it is for our communities here in Mayo.

"This vital funding relates to Local Improvement Scheme works that won't now be carried out in local parishes and villages. It's a shame."

Councillor Michael Kilcoyne revealed he is infuriated by the situation.

He will be raising the matter at next Monday's meeting of the council.

"I want to know what progress is being made to resolve this issue and I am worried that Minister Humphreys has declined a meeting with the council on the matter.

"This problem has not been caused by the elected members, yet we are the one that have to answer to local community representatives.

"There is a long list of applications for local improvements works that won't be taking place this year because the funding is not being made available to Mayo County Council due to issues that have been widely reported.

"The works that Mayo communities are missing out on relate to roads providing access to people’s homes and farms, as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers or beaches."

In her announcement, Minister Humphreys said the funding represents an increase of €500,000 on the initial 2021 allocation, with each county (apart from Mayo) receiving an increase in their allocation accordingly -

With this additional funding, over €90 million has now been allocated to local authorities under the Local Improvement Scheme since it was re-introduced 2017.

She said: "Local connectivity is vital for rural communities. Our Rural Future clearly recognises this.

"The Local Improvement Scheme is an important source of funding for small non-public roads and laneways leading to homes and farms or to amenities such as lakes, rivers and beaches.

"Since the scheme was reintroduced in 2017, over, 3,000 roads have been funded for repair works.

"This has made a real difference to the lives of over 13,000 landowners and residents in rural Ireland.

"I acknowledge that strong demand for this funding remains across the country.

"In some counties, local authorities have significant levels of applications on hand.

"My priority is to continue to fund the works on roads leading to agricultural holdings given their importance for farm families and our agriculture sector."

Minister Humphreys continued: "I would urge each local authority to utilise the funding announced today, and complete the repair works on the selected roads as soon as possible.

"I am delighted that the first year of implementing ‘Our Rural Future’ has seen great progress across a range of initiatives and supports for rural Ireland.

"Today’s announcement is further evidence of the strong commitment of my department to making a real difference in rural Ireland."

The funding provided by the Department of Rural and Community Development will be complemented by a local financial contribution from landowners/householders, as well as local authority resources.

There will be a cap of €1,200 on the amount that any individual householder or landowner will be asked to contribute towards the cost of repairs to their road.