Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me to substitute for Deputy Duncan Smith. I come from the town of Mallow, which is one of those towns that the Minister has described in terms of developing their potential and radiating their services outward. I am a regular rail user. Currently, 90% of my travel is by rail between Mallow and Dublin. I am an onward user of the Leap card, which is like a piece of gold to me. If I am a Mallow resident, though, I cannot use it to travel to Cork. I can travel from Dublin Pearse Station to Greystones using a Leap card, but not from Mallow to Cork. Therein lies the injustice and inequality. I have been campaigning for nearly three years to have the Leap card service extended between Mallow and Cork. I have been going in and out of the National Transport Authority, NTA, and going around the houses. If the Minister is serious about shifting modes of transport and putting people on trains and buses, will he please take on this simple issue? It is useless for us to talk about modal shifts unless we go after the low-hanging fruit. It would be significant if the Leap card could be used by students, older people or people of any age to go in and out of Cork. We would see a dramatic reduction in the number of cars on the roads to Cork because public transport services could be extended.

My next issue concerns towns themselves. I hope that the Minister has relations in or some connection to Mallow, Buttevant and Charleville. I am sure he will recount a personal tale for us. If he has a personal connection to any of those towns, I implore him to ensure that the ongoing consultation process in respect of a bypass for Mallow is followed up with a budget line. It is vital that the town be bypassed, but it is also important that if we are going to - I believe I have interpreted the Minister correctly in this - bypass towns like Mallow, Buttevant and Charleville, we do not take our eye off the ball as regards the proposed M20 Cork-Limerick motorway. I continue to make the case for the motorway on the basis of regional investment into the very towns the Minister was talking about on the one hand and, on the other, ensuring that we make roads safe. There have been too many fatalities on the routes between Cork and Limerick. On average, there are more than 17,000 movements between Cork and Charleville per day. Too many people have died. I ask that the proposals not be mutually exclusive goals. The bypass is needed, but there is also a need to deal with towns like Mallow, Buttevant and Charleville. I do not want to be too parochial, but we must speak to thousands upon thousands of people in the Munster region who are depending on the bypass to be completed in an appropriate way. Like the Chairman, I welcome the investment in public transport that the Minister mentioned. I am someone who loves using the train. The two proposals are not mutually exclusive.

My final point is on EirGrid and the interconnector. Everyone sees the interconnector's potential. The point at which landfall takes place is in east Cork. There are residents in the little area around Churchtown and Roxborough who have expressed concerns. If possible, will the Minister use his good offices to intercede with EirGrid, insofar as that is appropriate, to ensure that there is no disruption to the lives of people living in those little pockets? We all realise that the interconnector will be a vital piece of infrastructure, as do the residents, but they have expressed concerns.