Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom sa chéad áit mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le oifig an Cheann Comhairle as ucht cead a thabhairt dom an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a phlé sa Teach inniu. I welcome the opportunity to speak. I appreciate the permission I have been given by the office of the Ceann Comhairle to raise this issue. I would like to congratulate the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, on his promotion to the Cabinet and, more importantly, on his appointment as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, which means he has responsibility for road safety. I acknowledge the efforts of the Minister's predecessors in that Department - the Ministers, Deputy Varadkar and Kelly, both of whom helped me when I raised on the floor of the Dáil on numerous occasions the issue of the N71 route in west Cork . I appreciate their assistance. I would also like to wish the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, every good luck in his new role. I look forward to working with him.

While this is an old chestnut, it is very important to me and to the people I represent. During the boom years when the so-called Celtic tiger was flowing, the people of west Cork were always amazed to find that they did not seem to exist when decisions were being made on infrastructural projects like schools building and road development. Thankfully, this Government has addressed much of the decline in the schools building area. I am extremely grateful for the substantial school building programme that has taken place, even in these times of very limited finances. However, we have made no progress with the National Roads Authority on the N71. When I was the chair of the western committee of Cork County Council, I led a delegation that met representatives of the authority almost ten years ago. The last time money was spent on the N71 was in 2003, when a 1 km bypass was built around Skibbereen. Although some moneys have been spent on maintenance, etc., nothing serious or worthy of note has been done in the 11 years since then.

We have a wonderful product in west Cork. I know the Minister is familiar with the area. Like many Members of the House who like to come to west Cork, he will have enjoyed the product we have down there. We are very proud of what we have to offer. Unfortunately, the N71 access route presents huge challenges, particularly at this time of the year. I say that to provide some background. A number of accidents have taken place at a particular junction and an adjoining stretch of the N71, which is no more than 500 m long. Unfortunately, there have been some extremely tragic fatalities at this location. Most recently, a young girl was fatally injured in a tragic accident at this spot. When such fatalities happen, we are all reminded that we have a duty which goes above and beyond politics and money. It is literally an issue of life and death. There have been four incidents along this 500 m stretch of roadway already this year. There were seven serious incidents involving the fire brigade and some fatalities last year. In 2012,12 official incidents were recorded along this 500 m stretch.

The figures are there. The National Roads Authority is well aware of the issue. As public representatives, we want to raise this issue and we have a responsibility to do so. I plead with the Minister, who is responding to his first Topical Issue since he took up this office in recent days, to approach the National Roads Authority and ask it to make direct and proactive contact with Cork County Council. This is a matter of life and death. I am not exaggerating any of the facts, although I wish I was. Too many tragedies have taken place on the tiny stretch of road that needs to be addressed. I will not go into the engineering details of the road on the floor of the Dáil other than to say that two bends need to be removed. I would like the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to ask the National Roads Authority to take a proactive approach. He should also ask Cork County Council to address this issue immediately, irrespective of the demands on its funds and its time. The Minister should be then in a position to confirm to me whether this is a priority for the National Roads Authority.

See this speech in context