Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the Chairman and I participated in an online briefing in the mid-west where Oireachtas Members and councillors were briefed on the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy that will carry the mid-west region all the way to 2040. We heard at the presentation, and it was news to all of us and many of us were floored by the revelation, that the Minister for Transport has used a ministerial order to pull the entire phase 2 of the Limerick northern distributor road because he does not believe it should happen, which he said in this room a few weeks ago. I do not expect Mr. Mullaney to have all of the answers.

Phase 1 is happening from Coonagh, County Limerick to Knockalisheen and Meelick, which is where I am from. I will speak about Roadbridge in a minute. There is a roundabout in Meelick where a distributor road begins and ends but there is no sign of anything more happening. The Minister wants the distributor road to stop at a roundabout and then go on to minor rural roads so the road is going nowhere.

Yesterday, I made this point during the presentation. I am sure that some people present have watched an old cartoon character called Wile E. Coyote and there was always a road on the edge of town that he would run on but then drop off because the road was unfinished. That is how the Minister wants to leave the Limerick northern distributor road. I will be honest and say that many people in my community continue to have major grievances with how the road is being routed and with such details but all of that should be dealt with in the planning and design domains. It should not be possible for the Minister to take a samurai sword to a project and declare that it will not happen in his lifetime, in this Government's lifetime and will not happen between now and 2040. I will not ask Mr. Mullaney my curveball question and do not expect a response from him. Like everyone in public life, I believe that if a project is done on a phased basis that delivers phase 1 and moves on to the next phase but slow as the process might be people would at least go through the statutory phases and not use a guillotine.

I will mention the Roadbridge issue and acknowledge that the officials cannot comment specifically on the matter. I will talk in specifics and hope they can talk in general. There are 600 employees in counties Clare and Limerick, which I am sure that the Chairman mentioned a few moments ago. I have met some of the employees and know that €40 million is owed to subcontractors. At least employees have a structure and can approach the Department of Social Welfare to avail of safety nets, although that is not an ideal situation by any stretch of the imagination. There is nothing for subcontractors and some of them have removed their machinery from the site so they can retain assets of some value and do not see their financial livelihood crumble.