Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I neglected to reply to the Deputy's question in his introductory remarks. I do not know the exact cost of the project to date but I will ask my office to contact the Deputy with the information.

I share Deputy Neville's sense of urgency with regard to this project. Adare is a beautiful tourist village. It is a lovely place to stay and to stop and it would be even nicer if not for all the traffic going through it. I agree with the sentiments expressed by the Deputy. It would also be of significant benefit to people travelling to and from County Kerry if this bottleneck could be addressed. However, in my opinion it is right to carry out the study rather than looking at Adare in isolation because one of the reasons given by An Bord Pleanála for its refusal was that the bypass was considered as an isolated development. Therefore, to satisfy An Bord Pleanála we should not consider it in isolation but rather consider it in the context of other road projects in the area, including Foynes. Once that work is completed by the end of the year, we should be able to come up with a solution for Adare and at that point I will strongly encourage the NRA to proceed with planning so that if and when the money becomes available for construction, we will be ready to commence. That is my plan of action in that regard.

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