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

I very much welcome the news that came from the Government yesterday regarding the significant investment to restart and rebuild the economy. In particular, I welcome the €185.4 million that will be invested in rail infrastructure, primarily in my constituency, Cork East. As the Minister will be aware, I worked closely on this with him and his Department and also with the Department of Transport and the Taoiseach, and I thank them most sincerely for their assistance over recent months on this issue. It will help greatly to reduce the level of traffic congestion in my constituency for commuters travelling into and out of Cork city, and it is very welcome news for people living in areas that are not currently served by rail connections, including those living in Blarney and Blackpool. People living in my constituency will be delighted to be able to travel to those areas via new rail connections that will be established by the Government. It just goes to show that whatever people may say about the Government, we have done everything we could to protect the economy in the most appropriate way while also being responsible with people's livelihoods and health. This is another €1 billion to try to get the economy back up and running again. It is the prudent and correct action that needs to be taken.

I am hopeful that in the coming weeks, the review of the national development plan, NDP, will be published. As a Cork Deputy, I want to be clear that the NDP drawn up in 2014 was incredibly disappointing for Cork county and city. Some of the projects left out of that plan must be included in the review. Specifically, I want progress to be made on the Cork-Limerick motorway, which is very important to my constituents in Cork East and particularly those living in Mallow and Buttevant. In addition, I would like progress to be made on the Cobh access road, a project costing more than €100 million, and bypasses provided for the villages of Castlemartyr and Killeagh, which will probably amount to an additional sum of more than €40 million.

When I look at other areas with much lower traffic levels and how well they were serviced by that NDP through investment in road infrastructure, what happened in Cork when that document was drawn up was simply wrong and that must be rectified. It must be rectified by the Taoiseach, the Ministers who are based in Cork and other Government Deputies. I want to be resolute on that message.

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