Independent TD Mattie McGrath has called on the Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council, Joe MacGrath, to explain why the Authority, along with only three others in the State will receive no additional roads funding under the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) for non-public rural roads in 2017. Deputy McGrath was speaking after the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring TD, announced a further €7.4 million in funding for Local Authorities under the LIS initiative:
“The four local authorities in the state that are not getting an extra penny under the second round of funding allocations are Limerick, Louth, Wicklow and Tipperary.
Serious questions need to be asked about why this is the case given the obvious and clear need for roads improvements within the county.
This is particularly the case here because as the Minister says, funding will be provided to the Local Authorities based on the amounts they have requested and their stated capacity to complete the work before the end of the year.
Why then has Tipperary County Council not applied for the funding that is available? We need urgent clarification on this matter,” concluded Deputy McGrath.