€118k in additional funding for rural roads in Louth announced

An additional €118,028 has been allocated for repairs and improvement works on rural roads and laneways in Louth, it was announced today by Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD.

The funding, under the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS), is the second tranche of funding through the LIS this year. Along with the €304,736 announced for Louth in the first round of LIS funding announced earlier this year, today's allocation brings the total to €422,764 for 2023.

It is part of an almost €16 million package announced for repairs and improvement works on rural roads and laneways across the country. The additional funding is aimed at supporting the continued improvement of non-public roads and lanes that are not normally maintained by local authorities and the Department of Rural and Community Development says it will allow local authorities to address the backlog of applications that they currently face.

Making the announcement today Minister Humphreys said: “I’m very pleased today to announce a further €16 million in funding to repair and upgrade hundreds of rural roads and laneways in towns and villages right across Rural Ireland.

"Good roads are absolutely vital for our rural communities and this record investment under the Local Improvement Scheme will make a huge difference in terms of access and connectivity. We are all familiar with the roads and laneways within our own communities that are full of potholes and in desperate need of repair.

"The funding being delivered under this scheme will help address this – benefitting so many of our families, businesses and in particular our farmers.

“As someone who grew up on a farm myself, I know all too well what it is like when a milk truck cannot gain access to collect the milk. I know too how poor quality roads in rural Ireland can negatively impact on families and businesses."

Welcoming today's funding announcement, Louth based Senator Erin McGreehan, said that, "

“We are all familiar with the roads and laneways within our own communities that are full of potholes and in desperate need of repair. The funding being delivered under this scheme will help address this – benefitting so many of our families, businesses and in particular our farmers.

“I want to see young people building on their family land, living in the community they grew up in and seeing their children attend the local school and playing for the local GAA club – this is what our rural communities are built upon."