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

I appreciate the Minister's response and the willingness he is showing towards this project. I look forward to working with him. My plea is twofold: the bigger issue of the upgrade of the N71 and the need for political prioritisation. I debated that on the floor of the House with some of the Minister's predecessors in the Department at ministerial level. As politicians, we have an obligation to prioritise issues. We ensure there is provision for collecting the water charges and taxes associated with that, therefore, we must have a say in where the money is spent, and I am determined to see that money come to west Cork. It is long overdue. I do not know what the previous Fianna Fáil-led Government had against west Cork and why, in times of plenty, it decided not to invest a cent in upgrading the N71. Those days are gone. I cannot do anything about that but I can raise it today and I assure the Minister I will be constant in my calls to get funding for the N71 through the NRA, and I would appreciate the support of his good office.

I will make two points about this stretch of road. As the Minister pointed out, the NRA did some remedial works last year at Bohonagh, in Rosscarbery. Unfortunately, that moves the problem further west because if two bends are taken out and the road widened, motorists approach the next bend faster. That is the problem, and it is the result of years of neglect and lack of investment in the N71. It has to be addressed in the macro sense but in the short term we must deal with remedial works on the approach to Rosscarbery. Rosscarbery is a beautiful village-town, which is very popular. The locals know the stretch of road and, thankfully, there have not been many accidents involving locals but it is a very popular tourist area and people will not be familiar with it.

There is a request on the Minister's desk for a deputation from Cork County Council led by my colleague, Councillor Noel O'Donovan, in west Cork to lobby for funding for this project. Such is the depth of anxiety among the people locally to get this issue addressed a farmer has offered to donate his lands, which is an extraordinary gesture. The story was carried in the local newspapers recently. I would not expect any farmer to donate lands but he has offered to donate the land at that stretch of road free of charge to the NRA. That is an indication of the depth of feeling among the local people. It would be remiss of the NRA not to accept that serious offer and be proactive on this issue. I appreciate the Minister's offer to deal with it and look forward to getting a report on it.

See this speech in context