Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The N11 has been improved and the new Enniscorthy-New Ross bypass will be completed in 2019. The Oilgate to Rosslare Harbour project has not yet been done, but it is going to plan and the Government is continuing the work which the Deputy helped to initiate in improving road access to Rosslare and County Wexford more generally.

Irish Ferries' decision to consider moving the WB Yeatsto the Dublin-Cherbourg route, as opposed to the Rosslare-Cherbourg route, in 2019 is disappointing for the south east of the country. The Minister of State, Deputy Griffin, is in contact with Irish Ferries, as other Ministers will be. We are asking it to reconsider its decision to move the route because of Brexit, the negative impact on tourism in the south east and the Government's decision to support and develop Rosslare Europort. We acknowledge that it is a commercial decision and that Irish Ferries claims it can grow the numbers travelling between Ireland and France with this change. Decisions are driven by demand and the company argues that there is greater demand for a Dublin rather than a Rosslare route. The ship, and its capacity, will still be operating between Ireland and continental Europe, albeit from Dublin instead of Wexford. The route from Rosslare has, to date, been seasonal, with three services a week and the majority of traffic being tourist cars, with some freight.

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