Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. As she will appreciate, most of what she has told me I already know and the people already know. The question that people are asking is as follows. Why is it taking so long?

The reality is that 236 properties are affected. All of the stakeholders that were engaged in the discussion, such as Irish Rail and property owners, are all aware. They are all in agreement and are all ready to sign legal agreements post confirmation that this project is going ahead. As far as I can see, there seems to be only one Department delaying this whole project. Nothing has been asked for since April 2021. At every council meeting that I attend at Enniscorthy district level, this project comes up. The Independent councillors bring it up only to be told by the party councillors that there is nothing to ask for and nothing to see yet, since April, there has been no level of constructive engagement to move this project along.

The Minister of State has said that it is hoped to commence construction in 2022. How is that even possible or conceivable at this point when we do not know if the project is going to be signed off on and we do not know if the funds are in place? Yes, the funds are accounted for by the OPW and you can see that over 12 years, the costs have risen to €51 million. The longer this project is delayed, as the Minister of State will appreciate and we all know now, and the longer we leave things then we will need to do another review. There is more public moneys spent and more taxpayers' moneys wasted each time we delay and another environmental study has to be carried out.

I ask the Minister of State, on behalf of the people of Enniscorthy, to ask the Minister to have this project signed off by December 2021 or to give a serious clarification as to why that is not going to happen.

See this speech in context