Minister Calleary announces €14 million in additional funding to Local Authorities for upgrade works on rural roads and laneways under the Local Improvement Scheme
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From: Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Published on: 7 August 2025
- Last updated on: 11 September 2025
- Minister confirms distribution of additional €14 million funding for 2025
- Funding increases the total budget under the Local Improvement Scheme for 2025 to €30 million
- Investment will improve access to rural homes, farms and outdoor amenities
Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary, has today, (Thursday 7 August) announced a further €14 million investment in our rural roads and laneways.
The allocation represents a significant increase to the 2025 funding available under the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) – bringing the overall investment to a record €30 million for the year.
The Local Improvement Scheme is designed to support the continued improvement of non-public roads in rural communities and improves access to rural homes and farms, as well as outdoor amenities such as our lakes, rivers, mountains and beaches.
These roads and laneways are not normally maintained by locally authorities, however they represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents.
The allocation of additional funding comes following engagement between the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and local authorities.
The county allocations are based on the level of works that each local authority indicated they could complete before the end of the year and represent the Minister’s commitment to increasing funding for our rural roads.
The LIS scheme was re-introduced in 2017 and to date, over 20,000 landowners and rural residents have benefitted, with over 4,800 roads upgraded under the Scheme.
Announcing the additional funding, Minister Calleary said:
“I am delighted to have secured a further €14 million for the Scheme which almost doubles our investment this year. The €30 million which I have made available to our local authorities this year represents the highest annual funding level since the scheme was re-introduced.
“This additional funding demonstrates my commitment to improving connectivity for rural residents – whether it be access to homes, farms or outdoor amenities.”
Under LIS, local authorities are responsible for identifying and prioritising roads for improvement works under the scheme, in consultation with residents/landowners.
The works must be completed before the end of the year.
The Minister continued:
“I am very much aware of the need to support this scheme and the demand that is apparent across our local authorities.
“Over the coming months, my department officials will work closely with local authorities to ensure that this funding is fully delivered this year to improve our non-public rural roads and laneway.
“The Programme for Government commits to increasing the government’s investment in our rural roads through the Local Improvement Scheme. With this additional funding under the Local Improvement Scheme this year, we will have invested almost €184 million in upgrading rural roads and laneways across the country since 2017.”
Details of the allocation to each County under this additional funding and the total allocations for 2025 are set out below.
Notes
The LIS was reintroduced in September 2017 and almost €170 million has already been provided for works on over 4,800 roads. The additional funding announced this year will bring that total to approximately €184 million.
Eligible roads
Eligible roads under the Local Improvement Scheme are:
- non- public roads providing access to parcels of land, of which, two or more are owned or occupied by different persons, one of which must be for agricultural/harvesting purposes, and
- non-public roads leading to important community amenities such as graveyards, beaches, piers and mountains
Non-eligible roads
Non-eligible roads include:
- roads serving only houses or buildings occupied or used by persons not engaged in Agriculture, and
- roads leading to commercial enterprises
2025 Local Improvement Scheme Allocations Including Tranche 2 announced August 2025
|
County |
2025 LIS Original Allocation |
2025 Supplementary allocation |
Total 2025 allocation |
|
Carlow |
€373,479 |
€328,537 |
€702,016 |
|
Cavan |
€519,476 |
€662,498 |
€1,181,974 |
|
Clare |
€869,901 |
€788,498 |
€1,658,399 |
|
Cork |
€1,163,479 |
€1,167,898 |
€2,331,377 |
|
Donegal |
€1,123,479 |
€1,268,698 |
€2,392,177 |
|
Galway |
€1,273,479 |
€843,137 |
€2,116,616 |
|
Kerry |
€1,023,479 |
€1,202,000 |
€2,225,479 |
|
Kildare |
€464,765 |
€102,097 |
€566,862 |
|
Kilkenny |
€552,025 |
€264,537 |
€816,562 |
|
Laois |
€470,536 |
€561,698 |
€1,032,234 |
|
Leitrim |
€373,479 |
€528,098 |
€901,577 |
|
Limerick |
€709,694 |
€700,298 |
€1,409,992 |
|
Longford |
€373,479 |
€370,996 |
€744,475 |
|
Louth |
€373,479 |
€364,298 |
€737,777 |
|
Mayo |
€1,073,479 |
€504,537 |
€1,578,016 |
|
Meath |
€548,771 |
€286,016 |
€834,787 |
|
Monaghan |
€373,479 |
€588,297 |
€961,776 |
|
Offaly |
€535,404 |
€515,497 |
€1,050,901 |
|
Roscommon |
€661,677 |
N/A |
€661,677 |
|
Sligo |
€507,776 |
€321,645 |
€829,421 |
|
Tipperary |
€1,023,479 |
€795,500 |
€1,818,979 |
|
Waterford |
€502,162 |
€535,098 |
€1,037,260 |
|
Westmeath |
€498,238 |
€463,437 |
€961,675 |
|
Wexford |
€619,900 |
€560,298 |
€1,180,198 |
|
Wicklow |
€541,406 |
€276,387 |
€817,793 |
|
Totals |
€16,550,000 |
€14,000,000 |
€30,550,000 |