Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The N22 Macroom bypass needs to be prioritised and moved to tender for construction. We cannot leave it pushed out to 2022. It is three years this month since the courts ruled on the bypass and the way was cleared for the land purchase to begin. In the meantime the land purchase has been moving along slowly, little by little. At this stage, three years on, it is a bit over halfway. Late last year there was great fanfare when Government Deputies were telling us we were on the new programme and were promising us everything was going to go ahead and was hunky-dory. However, there was no start date, which was of great concern for locals. Earlier this year it was very worrying for locals when the moneys allocated for the land purchase were reduced from €5 million to €3.8 million. To date, much of that allocation has already been spent. Up to this morning, €3.426 million of this year's allocation had been consumed and we are only as far as July. Transport Infrastructure Ireland really let the cat out of the bag in recent weeks when it met with Cork County Council. It said, "It is TII's intention to appoint a contractor for Dunkettle in 2018, as it is their top priority project, with a view to commencing in 2019/2020 while the N22 and N28 will be post 2021". That means it is not on the current programme but post-2021, which is the next programme. That is a serious setback for locals, who are keen to be unburdened of traffic by having the Macroom bypass built. It causes serious distress for people.

I ask the Minister to prioritise the Macroom bypass. Various Ministers have moved it through the different stages, and I ask the Minister to release it to tender for construction and raise it at Cabinet level, and possibly, if he has an opportunity-----

See this speech in context