Funding for lanes ‘insulting’ to people waiting a decade

Correspondence from two ministers on funding for repairs to private lanes sparked a heated debate at the July meeting of Cavan County Council.

The local authority members sent letters to three Minsters seeking a commitment for funding for the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS). Ministers Charlie McConalogue, Heather Humphreys and Eamonn Ryan were contacted by the council to highlight the problems with smaller rural roads due to a backlog as a result of inadequate funding.

Two of the ministers replied to the missive from the council, but there was fractious exchanges in the course of the discussion.

The morning after the local authority meeting Minister Heather Humphreys announced an extra €10.5 million to be spent nationally for the programme, which funds works to non-public roads across the country.

The council discussed the replies from Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport in connection with funding of the road network in County Cavan and Heather Humphreys, Minister for Rural and Community Development and from the Office of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine regarding the funding for the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) and the backlog for the scheme.

There was some confusion about the sequence of the replies. Cllr Peter McVitty (FG) said the reply from Minister Ryan did not tally with the query sent by the council: “I didn’t think that TII had anything to do with Local Improvement Scheme lanes, I think he is way off the rails there,” he said of the reply.

Fellow party member, Winston Bennett, agreed: “There was a meeting organised with Minister Ryan last autumn. He mustn’t have listened or been asleep because there is nothing in that letter about LIS. Anytime we wrote to him was about LIS. It has been stated many times there’s a lot of employment created down these lanes and a lot of businesses kept going. It is Minister Ryan’s Department and he should be doing something about it.

“The only positive response has come from Heather,” Cllr McVitty added. “We have to push this because it is a serious issue.”

Aontú councillor Sarah O’Reilly pressed the point: “At the last meeting we requested letters were sent to Ministers Charlie McConalogue, Heather Humphreys and Eamonn Ryan. Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin raised this issue on the Dáil in July and admitted there is a huge backlog in funding of LIS. We all agree it is the Department of Transport’s baby. Heather Humphreys has been very good, but it is minuscule. It’s very insulting to people who have been waiting on those lists for over 10 years the amount of money allocated.”

Cllr O’Reilly said the Department of Rural and Community Development should target LIS.

Cathaoirleach Clifford Kelly, who has served on the local authority since 1985, said: “LIS funding has always been funded by the Department of Local Government. In fairness Minister Humphreys stepped into the breach to provide funding for us. It should be coming from Minister Ryan’s department. We are only getting pittance for it.”

Cllr S. O’Reilly expressed her unhappiness with the correspondence: “[There is] no acknowledgement that there was 10 years when there was no funding for LIS schemes. It has completely blamed local authorities – I laughed at it when I read it. It is unfair.”

Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly said many of the grant aid regulations do not make sense: “Thanks to Minister Humphreys’ allocation there are a few extra lanes that are being done that would not be done otherwise. That has to be acknowledged. There is no point in putting blame on any one individual, we are all agreed that one department is not going to be fit to claw back the backlog that we have. It is going to have to be funded by at least three Departments. The Department of Agriculture have got to become involved. There is a TAMS grant that will allow you to build a shed in your yard, but it wont allow you to build a path up to it.”

Across the chamber Fianna Fáil’s John Paul Feeley focused on the importance of the issue to many rural dwellers: “There are people waiting for years. We are dealing with 2008 applications for work on lanes that serve family homes, agricultural land and amenities around the county. They are waiting far too long. Every euro we get is to be welcomed and I welcome the fact Minister Humphreys acknowledges in her letter there was no dedicated funding scheme for a number of years until the scheme was relaunched in 2017 when Minister Michael Ring stepped in.”

He suggested the “scatter gun approach” of getting funding from a number of Departments removes blame from individual Ministers. “You could go around every government Department to find a reason for funding,” Cllr Feeley said.

Independent councillor Shane P O’Reilly was very specific when he laid the blame for the cessation of funding for the LIS programme: “Minister Leo Varadkar did away with the scheme, and you can tart that up anyway you like,” he said addressing the Fine Gael members.

Cathaoirleach Clifford Kelly interjected that there was no benefit to be gained from pointing fingers, with Cllr O’Reilly responding, “I’m not being childish. I’m merely pointing out the facts.”

He continued: “Every time the LIS is brought up, everyone is like a preening cat, ready for the row. There should be no row on this what-so-ever, it’s very simple. Successive governments have starved this council of the funding needed to clear the backlog of Local Improvement Schemes. That’s it.”

Cllr S.P. O’Reilly said Cavan has fared poorly from national allocation: “This should be coming from the Department of Transport and no one else, but it is with shame that I look at our list. When I look at other counties and the allocations they received, particularly the other two Ulster counties, ours [allocation] is miniscule and doesn’t even feature in comparison to what they got.”

Cathaoirleach Clifford Kelly had to curtail the discussion because of time constraints.

The next day Minister Humphreys made the announcement that her Department was to make an an additional €10.5M available for the 2021 LIS budget, doubling the overall government spend on the scheme. Cavan County Council welcomed news of additional funding for Local Improvement Schemes.

However, a spokesperson confirmed: “No official confirmation has been received by the council with regard to local allocations.

“Once the final allocation has been confirmed, then the local authority will be in a position to determine how many applications can be progressed.

“Approximately 220 applications have been approved, dating back to 2009.”