A yearly allocation of €4 million is needed for Kerry to attempt to get through the roads on the Local Improvement Scheme list before the people who made the applications for the works pass away.
That’s according to Councillor Brendan Cronin, who says there are 673 roads on the priority list in Kerry.
The LIS funds repairs and improvement works on private, rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities.
This year €1.5 million was allocated to the county through the scheme, which will enable 24 roads on the list to be completed.
Independent councillor Brendan Cronin and Fine Gael councillor Michael Foley both brought motions on the LIS before the monthly meeting of Kerry County Council.
Cllr Cronin says there’s currently no hope for people who are down the waiting list.
He says based on the current allocations, some people will be waiting for 28 years before their road gets done.
Cllr Cronin says some people who made the applications will have passed away before then and he is calling on the department to allocate €4 million annually so the council can attempt to address the long waiting list in Kerry.
Meanwhile, Cllr Michael Foley asked the council if it has limited capacity to carry out Local Improvement Scheme works.
He says in the last six years, €7.7 million was allocated to Kerry through this scheme, which saw 173 roads completed.
He says with only 24 roads being done this year, it’ll take a considerable amount of time to get through the LIS list.
Kerry County Council says it has the capacity to carry out Local Improvement Schemes.
It also says it suggested the allocation of funding be on a multi-annual basis, such as a three-year grant programme, as it believed this would bring more certainty and allow for better planning which it says would in turn enable these schemes to be delivered more efficiently.
