Danny Healy-Rae demands more funding after £1.13m roads allocation
Danny Healy-Rae criticised a recent LIS allocation of £1.13 million for Kerry, saying it will only cover around 20–25 roads while more than 550 public roads remain on the list. He urged the Taoiseach to explain how the shortfall will be addressed and insisted these are public roads used by dozens who deserve proper repairs.
Funding figures and shortfall
Healy-Rae said the LIS allocation of £1.13 million will only do about 20 to 25 roads, while the list still contains over 550 roads that began as a 700-road list in 2018.
Local authority capacity
He noted the local authority has signalled it could deal with 100 to 120 applications each year if it received sufficient funding, underlining a gap between capacity and available budgets.
Public roads and users
Healy-Rae rejected a perception that the roads are private, stressing they are public roads with up to 20 users on many routes and arguing residents are entitled to repairs comparable to those in Dublin 4.
Government response and review
The Taoiseach acknowledged the allocation, saying about 1.13 million was given to Kerry under the LAS scheme and referencing wider figures of 65 million and roughly 180 million allocated to LAS since 2017. The Taoiseach noted public expenditure levels and said the matter will be reviewed later in the year.
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Taoiseach, we received a LIS allocation last week of £1.13 million. And while we welcome this, we do need a lot more because as this will just about do somewhere between 20 and 25 roads, we still have over 550 roads remaining on the list, which has been started out with 700 back in 2018. The local authority has signalled that it could deal with 100 or 120 applications each year if they received the funding. However, these are not private roads, there is a perception out there that maybe they are. They are not. They are public roads with as many as 20 users on many of these roads. They are entitled to a good road like the people in Dublin 4. And I ask you Taoiseach, how are we going to deal with this enormous problem? Thank you for raising the issue. I am reminded of Deputy Timmons yesterday. It was the one Deputy that came in and said we need to be careful that we do not think public expenditure has to go on the increase all the time. But we did allocate about 1.13 million to Kerry under the LAS scheme which is the largest in a long, long time. It is the highest I think in the country. All of the deputies in Kerry have been on to us in respect of that. I want your colleagues on all fronts including your good self. But also the overall allocation in terms of, well I am not going to go through the details here in Kerry, but the overall allocation was, I mean sorry, 65 million I think it was it? And about 180 million have been allocated to this area LAS since 2017. Well the need is always there, I get that, but our public expenditure is high and we are continuing to increase and expand and expand. So we will review it. Thank you. Later in the year. And see what more we can ask. Deputy Mark Wall. Deputy Mark Wall. Deputy Mark Wall is on his feet.
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