Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The amendment would be helpful for certain. There has been a pick-up in the economy and there will be capital spending. We must plan for the construction of this road. The Minister of State has said the money is not available to construct it, but there will be a long lead-in period. We must be ready when the opportunity arises or when capital spending is provided for. If the economy keeps growing as it is, it will only be a short number of years before this happens. At that point, while we may have the funding available, the plan will not be in place. We are, therefore, calling for planning of the bypass to commence immediately.

The Minister of State referred to the road to Foynes. That would be a good project, if it were to place, but I have been listening to talk about that project for 30 years. I joined the council over 30 years ago and it was being discussed then. It will continue to be discussed in the future. We do not have funding for a stand-alone bypass project in Adare, but the Minister of State is suggesting there is funding for a project ten or 15 miles down the road in Foynes.

The statement was critical of stand-alone bypass projects but most bypass projects are stand-alone. Any bypass project of which I know is stand-alone. The most recent bypass constructed in our area at Castleisland was a stand-alone project. Will the Minister of State point to a bypass project that is not stand-alone? They were constructed where they were obviously needed. It is a new spin to suggest that because a bypass would be a stand-alone project, it cannot be constructed. Most bypasses of which I know were constructed to relieve congestion in towns and villages. There are two bypasses in my area, one in my village of Croagh and the other in Rathkeale. They are stand-alone. Now the Minister of State is telling us this cannot be done in the case of Adare because it would be stand-alone. That is not acceptable.

There must be a level of urgency created to commence the planning of a bypass route. Must we wait another 30 years for a new road to Foynes? What will Adare be like in three, five or ten years with the growth in traffic through the town and the development of the tourism industry in Limerick and the Kerry region? Inaction could seriously damage prospects because people will begin to be concerned about the delay in travelling to some tourist resorts in west Limerick and County Kerry.

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