Councillor slams council over roads funding
Cahir Area Cllr. Máirín McGrath has expressed her deep frustration at the level of funding received by Tipperary County Council for the Community Involvement Scheme roads programme for the 2024.
The Community Involvement Scheme Programme is funded by the Department of Transport and Tipperary County Council invites applications bi-annually from communities/groups to improve Public Roads on which the Council is not in a position to carry out regular maintenance work. Generally, the roads in question will be low traffic volume minor roads and cul-de-sac roads. The Community Involvement Scheme is based on community contributions, currently set at 10%.
According to Cllr McGrath the level of funding from the Department of Transport to Tipperary County Council is a drop in the ocean towards meeting the demand from applicants and is hugely frustrating for members of the public who have shown a willingness to contribute towards the cost of improving their local roads.
“This year Tipperary County Council received funding of just €804,600 while the council currently has 146 valid applications from communities around the county. The estimated total grant funding required to complete all of the 146 applications is close to €9 million euro meaning that Tipperary County Council has received just 9% of the total demand so far for this year. The Department has left Tipperary County Council short by a massive €8 million euro.” Explained Cllr. McGrath, after raising it with the Director of Services for Roads at the recent meeting of Tipperary County Council.
“In the Tipp, Cahir, Cashel MD alone there is approximately 50 applications for funding and I have been working with groups of home and landowners in Araglin, Ardfinnan, Ballyporeen, Burncourt, Newcastle, New Inn and Skeheenarinky who have come together with their neighbours and agreed to contribute to the repair of their local “public” roads and yet only two applications from the 50 received in the Municipal District will be allowed to proceed due to the lack of funding from the Department.
“With this low level of funding these communities will be waiting years to have the public roads repaired and it is simply not good enough that Tipperary County Council would receive such low levels of funding of less than 10% of what is required when the demand is clearly there and members of the public are willing to contribute further to the maintenance of their roads.”
The Independent Councillor has stated that she will work with Deputy McGrath and make representations to the Minister and Department of Transport to request an additional allocation to Tipperary for the Community Involvement Scheme.
“This Government appear to have money for everything else but Rural Roads continue to be ignored despite taxpayers willingness to fork out hard earned money to contribute to the urgent road resurfacing.”