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

To make that possible, we need investment in infrastructure, including investment in transport, and we need to look at Cork in the round, not just the city area but the whole city region stretching into west Cork, as well as east and north Cork, of course.

In terms the Deputy's specific suggestion, I will take it up with TII and the National Transport Authority, NTA. We have had mixed experience of park and rides. Sometimes they work and sometimes they do not. Perhaps the suggestion the Deputy makes would work but it would require the NTA, TII and Cork County Council to work together. I will take up the suggestion with TII and see if it is a feasible solution.

In terms of other investment, the Deputy will be aware the enabling works have begun at Dunkettle, and anyone who knows Cork will know the kind of congestion that is faced at the Dunkettle interchange. As I said, those initial works have started. There will also be progress this year on the N28 and N22, thereby improving the road network in Cork. The bulk of road investment now is happening in the north west, the south west and the south east, and there will also be investment in public transport, with a BusConnects programme for Cork, which will reduce traffic in the city and make things better for people who live outside the city and are commuting into it. The NTA is also working on a new Cork transport strategy, which I anticipate will leave open the option of a light rail system for Cork, which will be needed in the decades ahead.

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