New LIS funding for Leitrim welcomed, but backlog still a major hurdle

Over €500,000 has been allocated to Leitrim County Council for the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS), which provides funding to help local authorities carry out improvement works on non-publicly maintained roads.

Leitrim has faced a significant backlog on its LIS list, with only a small number of roads completed. As a result, the list has been closed to new applications despite strong interest and high demand.

In 2024, just nine roads under the LIS were completed in Leitrim, leaving 152 still outstanding. Between 2017 and 2024, a total of 143 roads were completed.

A new allocation of €528,098 from the office of the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Dara Calleary, has now been confirmed for LIS in 2025. This comes in addition to over €373,000 previously allocated, bringing the total for 2025 to €901,577.

Only five roads were expected to be completed in Leitrim this year, however, Cllr Gary Prior said the latest funding may allow for the completion of another six roads.

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Cllr Prior recently called for a meeting with Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien TD and Minister Dara Calleary to request additional LIS funding and push for more support for the Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) in the county.

While he welcomed the new allocation, Cllr Prior stressed that more support is urgently needed. “It is welcome, but we still need to seek a huge additional sum of money for the following years. 

“It’s going to take a couple of years to try make a real effort with the large list that’s there at the moment,” he said.

In June, Cllr Prior and other councillors met with Minister Calleary in Carrigallen to outline the current situation in Leitrim and emphasise the level of funding required. Millions of euro are still needed to clear the LIS backlog and reopen the list.

“It’s going to take a number of years before we make real headways on the numbers there at present,” Cllr Prior added.

He also noted that Leitrim has one of the highest numbers on the LIS list and that public interest remains very strong. “We have to keep working with the Minister,” he said.

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Fine Gael TD for Sligo-Leitrim, Frank Feighan, also welcomed the latest funding but echoed the need for more. “While well over €500,000 is very welcome and will further reduce the current list, I will continue to press again next year for further funding. 

“We need an allocation of in excess of €1m annually to have an impact on the long list and to clear this list within the next few years to allow the scheme to re-open again.

“I would like to see the Department of Transport allocate funding under the LIS schemes to alleviate the burden and allow local authorities to reduce their waiting lists,” said Deputy Feighan.