Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the great work the Minister and his team are putting into the review, which involves a very detailed process. Nevertheless, this is an opportunity to signal the rebalancing of our economy towards the Atlantic economic corridor. There are a number of key projects in this regard. I refer to the Western rail project, which is ready to roll. The project was recently reviewed by Dr. John Bradley and shown to be economically feasible. The Athenry to Claremorris extension is ready to go and would be a key investment in low-carbon transport for the Atlantic economic corridor.

Separately, the N26 is the final major road infrastructure project to have been undertaken in County Mayo. The first phase was completed in 2004 and we now need to move on the second phase, along with a continuation of the project linking the N26 to the N59. We have engaged with the line Department but we need a whole-of-government approach to indicate this review takes seriously the Atlantic economic corridor and the associated counties.

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