Head of Roads reassures Mayo councillors that all LIS money will be spent in Mayo this year

There will be no repeat of funding for LIS roads in Mayo being returned to Central Government coffers according to a senior official in Mayo County Council.

In July, many members of Mayo County Council reacted with fury after it was revealed that €200,000 in funding for LIS roads in the Castlebar Municipal District went unspent and was returned to the Department of Rural and Community Development.

The matter was raised at the Roads and Transportation Strategic Policy Committee meeting where members were asked to adopt the draft document for the administration and construction of Local Improvement Schemes (LIS).

Members of the SPC stated that regardless of how the scheme is administered it was important that the €1.5 million in funding allocated to Mayo is all spent.

In response to the members' concerns, Conrad Harley, Head of Roads with Mayo County Council said that the latest feedback from around the county is that there will be no issues regarding funding being returned.

“I can confirm that as of today I have been talking to all my colleagues out in the MDs [municipal districts] and everything is on target to have everything fully completed this year. There are no red flags being raised on schemes and if there is there are viable counterparts. I am quietly confident we will come through this year with a full spend,” Mr Harley told the meeting.

The LIS scheme has traditionally provided funding to private lanes not under the control of the local authority and would not normally be upgraded under the normal roads programme.

During the meeting Independent councillor Patsy O'Brien said that recently he along with Claremorris-based councillor Richard Finn were confronted by a man who questioned why funding was being returned.

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“Last Sunday I was cornered by an [LIS] applicant who asked the question in relation as to why the money went back. We are coming under criticism for the underspend and the money going back. No matter what we said to that individual we could not satisfy him and he could not see merit in it,” said Cllr O'Brien.

Cllr Finn also told the meeting that if money is not spent in the county, the department will have an excuse not to give Mayo its full allocation.

“If we don't use the money we get this year or any year it will be hard to go back to being a minister again next year. They will say Mayo didn't use their money last year so they mustn't need it and they won't send down an increase in funding and a cut of national cake,” he said.