James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I stress the requirement for funding for this project, bearing in mind that it will cost approximately €100 million. We have to bear in mind that Cobh is in a very strategic location in Cork Harbour. It is also one of the leading destinations for cruise ships not only in Ireland, but in Europe. Hundreds of thousands of tourists arrive into Ireland through Cobh. The historic nature of the town also attracts a lot of visitors to the region. This road is unfortunately holding back this great island from reaching its full potential. It is a beautiful and scenic place which many people want to visit but the issue of the access road is deterring a lot of investment in housing, enterprise and business, and is preventing potential tourism from being attracted into the region. We have to look at this in the strongest possible terms. I encourage the Minister to do all he can to support investment in this infrastructure. Although the town is already well served by public transport these problems are still chronic and need to be addressed.

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