Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very grateful the Ceann Comhairle allowed me to raise the exceedingly important issue of the N2 road, which runs from Dublin to Derry.

In this jurisdiction it runs through Dublin, Meath, Louth and Monaghan and then on towards Derry. It takes a good deal of traffic. Two issues arise. One relates to road safety. I believe the issues are common to all these counties. The other issue relates to the efficiency of the road as a national route. This particularly relates to my constituency of Meath East.

The issue of safety is the first and foremost priority. Six people have died on this road since the new year. It is an extremely dangerous road. The road is well known for accidents in Louth and Monaghan. Frankly, accidents could happen on any stretch of this road because of the nature of the road. It is extraordinarily busy. In parts there are houses on it, while elsewhere there are bus stops that are unlit. There should be a full safety review of the road. In some cases people have died unnecessarily because of road safety issues. There have been other accidents that have not hit the headlines. There have been several occasions when the N2 has been closed for reasons that have not resulted in fatal accidents. This really needs to be looked at. It is incumbent on the Minister and Transport Infrastructure Ireland to look at this closely.

When I refer to road safety on the N2, I cannot omit the Slane bypass, which is also relevant for the efficiency of the road. I urge the Minister to get the Slane bypass on the agenda and to ensure it is built. There has been some progress, there is no doubt about that, but we are five years on from a negative planning decision on the Slane bypass and we are only starting to get back on track in this regard. Five years is almost a lifetime in political terms. We need to make urgent progress.

The safety issues at Slane are, in reality, far more severe than the rest of the N2 in terms of the danger and the risk to road users and pedestrians. I cross the road in Slane at the traffic lights on a regular basis - there are many traffic lights in Slane. I am afraid of my life every time I cross the road, even using the pedestrian crossing properly - I certainly would not take a chance elsewhere. It is the same for all the residents of Slane and for anyone driving through the town.

The efficiency of the N2 as a national route is another issue. This road south of Slane is becoming completely inefficient and is not serving its purported function as a national route. There are major traffic delays on the road every morning, especially from the Kilmoon Cross area towards Primatestown on to Ashbourne and on to the Ashbourne bypass, which is a fabulous tranche of infrastructure that has solved the problem at Ashbourne. Commuters are delayed on this stretch unnecessarily because the road is simply not fit for purpose and because of traffic lights installed at Primatestown. They were put in place for essential safety reasons but I believe other solutions could be explored that would marry the obvious priority of safety with the ability of road users actually to use the road in a functional way.

We face difficulties not only for commuters in terms of the efficiency of the road but also for residents and road users on side roads. The Garristown area is between Duleek and Ashbourne. The road there is coming under pressure, especially between Ashbourne and Curragha and Kilmoon Cross. That road is coming under tremendous pressure because of people avoiding the N2 on account of its inefficiency. This, in turn, is putting pressure not only on local residents but on the council budget as well. It is a serious threat to road safety on those roads.

I look forward to the Minster's response on the N2 road.

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