A Donegal County Councillor has said the LIS funding allocation Donegal doesn’t go far enough to repair rural roads this year.
Cllr Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig said the €716,560 granted for the county in 2022 is “an insult to the people of Donegal living on impassable roads”.
He said more than 1200 schemes are awaiting funding in Donegal, at an estimated cost of €29 million.
The Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) funds the repair of non-public roads and lanes that are not normally maintained by the local authorities. Donegal received the third highest allocation this year, after Galway and Cork.
But with one of the state’s longest road networks, and with hundreds of rural routes on the waiting list, Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig said the funding equates to ‘pennies’ for each municipal district in Donegal.
“With the rate of money we are receiving, if that is what we are going to be getting every year, it’s going to take 35 years for everyone on the list,” he said.
“I believe it’s a shame on the government to try and spin this as a good news story. They are raising people’s expectations that cannot be met.
“There are vulnerable people living on roads that are impassable, and they will be let down again.”
Cllr Mac Giolla Easbuig said he has requested a list from the department asking how many projects will be funded from the allocation this year.
“I know of two roads on that list that will cost nearly €200,000 in themselves.”
