Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is a need to ensure that certain capital expenditure projects are given priority. I refer the House to a report commissioned by Cork and Limerick chambers on the need for investment in the M20 Limerick-Cork motorway, entitled Gearing up for M20: A Route to Success. The report, compiled by Indecon and Red C, is a detailed assessment and contains some very pertinent figures. One needs to recognise the action plan for jobs, the need for balanced regional investment and the need to ensure the economy grows in the regions. There are major challenges for young people looking to buy houses in the east of the country where a lot of FDI investment is taking place and there are major capacity constraints in transport, as well as quality of life issues. We need to disrupt the balance in favour of the regions and this report is very apposite and timely.

The report states there is a significant role for the M20 in enhancing the environment for foreign direct investment and indigenous investment and that it has the potential to support an estimated 4,000-5,400 direct jobs in the region. It states, "In gross terms excluding displacement impacts, these additional direct jobs could provide an annual gross exchequer impact of up to €128 million, depending on the nature of investment attracted." One can parse that figure in any way one wants but common sense tells us that a proper regional investment in infrastructure will bring with it an economic multiplier in the form of jobs. I ask the Government to consider opening up Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo and Donegal in the north-west region, what used to be known as the Atlantic corridor, in the capital plan. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, told me on 16 November 2016 there had been approval of €1 million for early works on the scheme. I welcome that, because there has been cross-party lobbying for the initial funding to get the project under way. He said, however, that the approval to commence planning and design and statutory orders would cost between €12 million and €15 million. Stage 3, the approval of the business case by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, will not cost anything while stage 4, the approval to submit the proposed development to An Bord Pleanála, will cost between €150 million and €180 million and the approval to commence construction will cost between €600 million and €650 million. These figures are from late 2016 but they give a fair indication of the cost of the project and I am making the pitch for it today. I recognise that I am in the presence of a Minister from the same region and from the county which devised this report. Politically, if we can all get to stage 2, 3 or 4 in the current capital plan to keep it on the agenda, it has the potential to deliver a massive economic return on investment in those regions. There is cross-party support for it and I hope the Government will bring it a step further in the current capital plan.

See this speech in context