Pat the Cope Gallagher has expressed his disappointment that the Government has failed to recognise the importance of local access and non-county roads in the recent announcement of CLÁR funding.
“The Government have again failed to recognise the importance of investing in rural Ireland – the failure to provide funding for the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) through the CLÁR programme, has left the hundreds of local, non-county and access roads in a state of limbo whereby no funding opportunity exists for their repair or improvement,” Deputy Gallagher said.
“The CLÁR programme which was first initiated under a Fianna Fáil government with the purpose to provide additional funding to rural areas which had suffered adverse population decline over the past 50 years.
“The provision of LIS roads funding in CLÁR is completely in keeping with the intent of the original CLÁR programme.
“I am calling on the Government to make provision for LIS roads in rural areas, or Boithre Áise in Gaeltacht areas – no allocation of funding has been made for these categories of roads since 2010.
“In the intermitting period of time many of these roads have deteriorated to a point where they are impassable and dangerous for travelling on, but as many of these roads are former or abandoned county roads and there upkeep without grant assistance is virtually impossible due to costs on the road users and residents.
“There is without doubt a crises unfolding for rural roads within Donegal unless funding can be sourced for their immediate improvement but the Government have failed to recognise that fact.
“Local and access roads are the backbone of rural life and living in rural Ireland and the failure on the part of the Government to fund these roads, is further proof that this Government fails to understand rural life and the value of rural living.
“The CLÁR allocations were a missed opportunity to assist and support rural families, farms and communities by providing funding to improve local, non-county and access roads.”
