Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to resume my contribution on Transport 21. Yesterday I began by speaking on public transport, particularly rail services, and I will continue with this theme, particularly bus transport and the improvements we are making on bus service provision. I welcome the roll-out of green routes throughout the country, particularly in my constituency, Cork South-Central. These green routes often allow local authorities funding for work they might not otherwise be able to do, such as road improvement, footpaths, bus lay-bys and pedestrian crossings. The Department of Transport has allocated €2.4 million for phase 1 of the Carrigaline to Cork city green route, which is at the statutory planning stage. I welcome that investment because it provides an important public transport link between growing satellite towns and Cork city.

I hope we see a further roll-out of green routes throughout Cork in the coming years. I would particularly like a green route from the expanding town of Passage West into Cork city. Perhaps that will be considered as part of the review of the Cork area strategic plan. Last April Bus Éireann unveiled its new strategic development plan in Cork, which details a range of improvements to bus services serving the city and county. Bus Éireann is due to receive 32 new buses in Cork under Transport 21 by the end of this year. Those new buses will have a real impact on people's quality of life. A new No. 16 bus route on the Cork city service will serve Douglas and Rochestown. Large developments, such as Mount Oval in Rochestown where over 800 units have been built, have no bus link, but this will change as a result of the introduction of new buses and the new route next February. This is a good example of the progress being made under Transport 21.

In his contribution last night, Deputy Michael O'Kennedy raised the issue of park and ride facilities. One of the first tasks of the Joint Committee on Transport, of which I am a member, will be to bring the various county managers into the committee to speak about park and ride. An example of its success is the Black Ash park and ride in Cork, which was set up by Cork City Council. It operates from Monday to Saturday between 7.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. It serves the city centre every 15 minutes off peak and every ten minutes at peak times. It provides 940 parking spaces and it costs only €5 per day, including the bus fare. That is an example of effective management at local authority level, working with the various Departments to ensure the introduction of new services.

I commend the Minister and the NRA for the investment in the upgrade of the Cork to Dublin inter-urban route to motorway status by 2010. Real progress is being made, including the Rathcormac to Fermoy bypass, the Mitchelstown relief road, the Cashel bypass and the Monasterevin bypass. Many of these projects have been completed on time and within budget, and I commend the Minister and the NRA for that.

I would like to see further progress on a number of projects in my area, especially the N28 Cork to Ringaskiddy road scheme. It is currently at route selection stage with the NRA. We are awaiting the announcement of the final route and the publication of compulsory purchase orders. It involves a new dual carriageway from Cork city to Ringaskiddy, which is a length of 13 km, and is a particularly important project in view of the huge industrial development in Ringaskiddy and the lower harbour area in the last few years. The IDA still has a land bank of around 300 acres, so there will be further major industrial development in the years to come. The Port of Cork is advancing its plans to relocate downstream to the lower harbour area. If that proposal is to be considered, a dual carriageway standard road is essential.

I know the NRA is focusing on the inter-urban routes until 2010, but I would like to see progress on the flyover projects at the Sarsfield Road and Bandon Road roundabouts on the N25 south ring road. The Kinsale road interchange, was has been completed, has made an enormous difference to members of the public using the N25, but there are serious bottlenecks on those other roundabouts. I hope we will be in a position to advance the new interchanges as soon as possible. The Jack Lynch tunnel has been an enormous success in the past few years, but the capacity of the tunnel should be reviewed. Significant congestion issues and tailbacks occur there on a daily basis, so we should have a review to see if further infrastructural projects are required.

The private sector can also play a role. A private company in my area has made a proposal to set up a new commuter ferry service into the city, using the natural asset of the lower harbour area in Cork. That proposal is about to enter the public domain and I welcome initiatives like that.

In conclusion, I would like to see continued investment in public transport, with new buses and extra green routes for expanding suburbs in Cork city. The feasibility study for the light rail system in Cork should be up and running as soon as possible. We also need progress on the N28, the interchanges on the N25, and continued progress on the inter-urban route from Cork to Dublin.

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