Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is not the first time I have heard the issue of this road being raised. The Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Griffin, has raised it with me many times. It is a serious problem and I recognise that the project is important to the Minister of State, as well as to Deputies Danny and Michael Healy-Rae, Martin Ferris and all other representatives in County Kerry. I will address the issue as seriously as I possibly can.

As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding of the national roads programme.  The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects are matters for Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. 

Ireland has just under 100,000 km of road in its network and the maintenance and improvement of national, regional and local roads place a substantial financial burden on local authorities and the Exchequer.  Because of the national financial position, there were very large reductions in the Exchequer funding available for roads expenditure after the financial crisis and the cuts meant that a significant number of proposed road improvement projects had to be suspended. The N22, Farranfore to Killarney, scheme was one of the projects suspended at the time.

The Building on Recovery capital plan 2016 to 2021 and the capital plan review allocations mark a significant step forward in restoring funding to the levels needed to maintain the road network in a “steady state” condition and allowing for some investment in road improvement schemes, but it is going to take time for funding to build up to the required level to support road maintenance and improvement projects.  I was able to secure significant additional funding in the capital plan review and it will allow a package of additional measures to be implemented, including the development of a pipeline of future projects.  In that context, TII has allocated funding this year to local authorities to progress pre-appraisal of a range of projects.  The N22, Killarney to Farranfore, scheme is one the schemes to be assessed.  I understand from TII that the funding provided for Kerry County Council this year is to bring the full scheme through pre-appraisal, with a view to assessing the extent to which the scheme or elements of it can be justified in terms of appraisal and advanced further.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's public spending code and my Department's capital appraisal framework have very specific requirements in relation to the appraisal of capital projects and given the many competing demands for funding, the appraisal process is very important in determining how best to allocate resources.

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