Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If I may, I will also put a few issues to the witnesses before the responses. The first is specific to the Department and TII. I am not sure if other members have encountered this, but when we table parliamentary questions to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and they are referred to TII for reply, increasingly, and particularly of late, I have noticed that we tend to receive very much a copy-and-paste response in which even the specific question is no longer referred to. At the very least, I expect that there should be a reference to the question that was asked in the response we get in the letters sent back to us. This is quite important for the sake of housekeeping. For the sake of parliamentary accountability, responses should come directly from the Minister. For that matter, there is far too much delegation in this regard. We have the same issue with responses from the Department of Health and the HSE. We are where we are, as the saying goes, but I expect at least when answers are sought that the responses sent to Deputies should be a little more detailed and should at least refer to the questions asked so that we know in our offices which questions are being responded to. I ask that this happen.

Another matter I would like to raise regarding accident data is how TII decides what is and is not a priority project. It is a very reactive system. I am sure most of the members here can recall cases in which public representatives, whether councillors, Deputies, Senators or MEPs, have raised with TII cases of specific concern that they have heard of on the ground, but "the computer says no" because the data or the number of accidents is not high enough. Then an accident occurs at the particular location and all the public representatives say "we told you so". There is an over-reliance on the data. Cognisance needs to be taken of public representatives' continual and repeated calls for action in certain areas. There is not enough listening in this regard. A revert to process is the default response. There needs to be a little give and take. Not to be parochial, but I will point to examples in Kerry. The Killarney bypass junctions with Lewis Road and Madam's Hill and the Tralee-Killarney road are just two examples in very close proximity to each other that public representatives constantly raise, but the TII and the Department respond that they are not an issue. These are examples where the process needs to be tweaked. I would like to know the witnesses' views on them.

I wish to raise another issue that causes much ill-will on the ground, namely, the fact that TII takes successful applications to local authorities for planning permission to An Bord Pleanála because of planning applications on national secondary routes or other roads under TII's remit. There needs to be a more common sense approach to this, and each case needs to be treated on its individual merits. Again, I know of cases - for example, on the N72 east of Killarney, a wide, straight section of road - in which family members are seeking to use existing entrances. One case concerns the relative of an elderly farmer who has inherited a farm and who wants to live on the farm, keep the community alive and look after that elderly person. Their case has been frustrated for years because of NRA and TII objections. I have been to the area in question to examine the situation and the logistics. TII's actions make no sense in this case. As a result of the blanket approach to it, real people are being victimised and their lives are being put on hold. I would like to know the witnesses' views on this. Will they engage with people in a more constructive way as distinct from the default response to the effect that local authorities have the discretion to make allowances for such cases? That is not working on the ground for people, and this needs to be addressed.

I also add my voice of support to what is a very important regional project, namely, the M20, which needs to be examined. Regarding the choice of preferred routes, if one looks at the map of the plans, there is the possible M20 route, but is the M8 and its proximity to Limerick also an option? There are always local concerns about areas being far away from the proposed motorway and so on, but are all options being considered? What is the current situation? We have seen cases in the past number of years in which motorways were built parallel to each other where mathematically it might have been more affordable to choose a different route and have one motorway instead of two running parallel in relative proximity to each other.

Why did we not see any significant increase in the Department's allocation in this year's budget? What efforts were made at departmental level to increase the Department's allocation for 2017? Much of the feedback I have received since the budget has centred on a sense of disappointment that other Departments scored much higher and more strongly than the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. It is an issue of concern among many representatives. What is the situation in this regard? One of the issues being conveyed from the ground up to representatives is that of the real schemes such as local improvement schemes. We are told no funding is available for the last kilometre to many people's homes in rural communities in particular. What is the situation in this regard?

The N22 Ballyvourney-Macroom bypass is in the capital plan, which is a huge step forward. The matter had been neglected for many years by successive Governments. My understanding now is that a recent tender has issued for the fencing off of the corridor for the road. Could the witnesses confirm if this is the case? This is a massively important project for the region. As a Kerry Deputy, I would say it could be the greatest socio-economic development for us for many decades. I see it as a priority and hope that the mid-term review will see an acceleration of the project, which is nearly shovel-ready, as the witnesses will be aware.

I also ask for an update on the N69 and the Dingle relief road, which are also in the capital plan. My colleague, councillor Séamus Cosaí Fitzgerald, has been constantly lobbying on the issue of the Dingle relief road, as the witnesses will be aware, and he is very anxious for news on it. The road is now on the Wild Atlantic Way and therefore, like many towns along the western seaboard, flooded with traffic. Dingle in particular is choked with traffic. The relief road would not only take traffic related to heavy fishing industry out of the town, but also provide additional parking, which has become a huge issue in Dingle and, I am sure, in other towns throughout the country.

I ask Mr. O'Leary to respond first and Mr. Nolan after him.