Over €600,000 allocated to Offaly under Local Improvement Scheme

€674,785 has been allocated to Offaly under the LIS Local Improvement Scheme by Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys.

The funding will go towards upgrading rural lane-ways and non-public roads which provide access to homes, farms and outdoor amenities such as lakes.

A total of €22 million was allocated for works throughout the country.

Prior to the announcement, each Local Authority was asked to consult with local residents and landowners and identify road and lane-way projects where works could start immediately and be completed this year.

Making the announcement the Minister said:

''The recent census results show that the population of rural Ireland is growing. This is hugely positive. As part of ‘Our Rural Future’, I want to see more people living, working and raising a family in our rural communities throughout the country.

The Local Improvement Scheme is about making life a little bit easier for those rural families who live on a lane-way or non-public road. The scheme provides substantial grant aid for the upgrade of these routes and assists homeowners with the costs. In many cases where there are multiple homes on a lane, neighbours will work together to draw down funding under the scheme."

Round one of the Offaly funding €380,760 was allocated in April of this year while the remainder of €294,025 is being made available this month.

The LIS scheme was reintroduced in September 2017 and over €80 million has already been provided for works on over 3,000 roads which in turn benefitted over 13,000 local residents and landowners.