Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)

At the outset, I mentioned that the Minister was in Clare to cut a ribbon and open a road. This happened thanks to the previous Government, which funded it. People said it would never happen but it did happen and it is now open and functioning very well. Another road is being developed in County Clare straddling the Clare-Limerick border. It is called the Limerick northern distributor road. It will give relief to the northern suburbs of Limerick city and parts of County Clare. Phase 1 is very near completion. Construction work is happening today. It could open by the end of this year. Phase 2 is non-existent. We have not even got to the route design stage. We have nothing. Phase 2 ends in my home village of Meelick. There is going to be a roundabout. Motorists will come off a dual carriageway system and exit a roundabout onto the most rural of roads, where hedgerows are growing out and so on, as mentioned by Deputy Michael Collins. It makes no sense.

I spoke about this yesterday at the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, is too young to remember the Road Runner cartoon but the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, might. The Road Runner was being chased along a road at the edge of town. It was a beautiful highway. It used to drop off at a cliff edge and he would fall into a canyon. That is what the Limerick northern distributor road is going to be like because, when phase 1 is completed, phase 2 will be going nowhere.

I will be very clear here and make a political point. At this committee, the former Minister, Eamon Ryan, said repeatedly over the past five years that he did not want phase 2 and did not believe it should progress. That is a fact. It is in writing. He said there should be light rail systems and other alternatives. That is fine. I do not argue with that but a road and a community cannot be left in limbo. I ask the Minister to prioritise this project. For the record, I had serious reservations about some of this route over the years. I made submissions about it. The reality is that we lost some of those battles but the road cannot be held up any longer. People need it, the city of Limerick needs it and south-east Clare needs it.