Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives from TII and Louth County Council for being here today. The Ardee bypass project has been on the agenda for a very long time. It is situated on the N52 and runs for 4.5 km. Funding of €34 million has been allocated and the people of Ardee, including shop owners, cannot wait for it to happen. In 2005 planning permission was granted, in 2006 a CPO was published for the land and in 2007, the land was acquired. Then suddenly we had the economic crash and there was no money to go ahead. I do not know how the witnesses can guarantee that this will go ahead in 2020. The opening statement refers to the economic situation in the past but let us look at the current economic situation. It has never been so unstable. We have Brexit looming and nobody knows what is going on. Billions of euro are being spent on the national children's hospital and will be spent on the national broadband plan. I cannot see how the witnesses can appear before this committee today and state, categorically, that the money will be made available for this project. I just cannot understand how they can give that kind of commitment. The people of Ardee, many of whom are listening in to these proceedings today, have been waiting for a very long time for this. To be honest, this Government is probably in the most insecure situation that we have seen for a very long time.

The witness from TII referred to contributions from all stakeholders, including the residents of the wider Ardee community but did they not make submissions previously? Reference was also made to sports clubs, public transport providers, An Post, school bus providers and so on but they have had plenty of time over the last few years to submit objections. Why, when the money has been allocated and Louth County Council is ready to start the project, are we now in turmoil? There will be no one more disappointed than me if this does not go ahead but the witness does not have the right to tell people that this is going to happen. This might never happen because nobody knows what the situation will be in 12 months. Back in 2005, when everything was going so well, everyone thought this project was going to happen. How can the witnesses-----