Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. This is an issue he has raised many times. I am glad to speak to him about it. When we consider that part of the country, there is a capacity for development, as the Deputy said, and not only because of the IDA site. There is a strategic opportunity for that part of the country having regard to offshore wind, for example, and the transport of turbines from Rosslare Port and other ports along the south coast to the south west, where our most extraordinary strategic advantage as an island nation happens to be. To develop wind energy would secure our energy sustainability, allow us to export energy and deliver 12-month-per-year jobs right up the western seaboard, with technicians and others working there to support offshore wind activity. Not only is a project like this entirely in line with Project Ireland 2040, it also supports the development of an IDA-owned site at a time when we are constantly looking for further development. It is also part of the strategic development of the State's physical infrastructure into the next two decades and how we provide for our economic, energy and employment sustainability throughout the south west.

There are so many other benefits to this proposed project. It would connect Cork and Rosslare much better and directly benefit the towns of Carrigtwohill and Midleton, which the Deputy is much more familiar with than me. The improvement to the network would enable more reliable journey times, still support, as I said, the strategic development of the south-west region and facilitate economic and commercial growth. The proposed project includes the possibility of developing the existing route for the benefit of local residents through the provision of new cycling and walking facilities, which clearly would promote physical activity in the area. By removing traffic from the existing route, road users would benefit from reduced journey times, certainty and improved road safety, as the Deputy outlined. It would also offer better connections for active travel and public transport.

As the Deputy is aware, due to the fact that the greater portion of national development plan, NDP, funding becomes available in the second half of the decade, there is a constraint on the funding available for new projects this year. Most national road projects in the NDP were progressed in 2022 but projects such as the N25, which did not have the required funding to progress in 2022, remain part of the NDP and will be considered for funding in subsequent years. Allocations for projects in 2023 are in the process of being finalised and will be announced in the near future.

On the current status of the N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton road, as the Deputy is aware, technical advisors have completed their assessments of the route options and determined a preferred solution. Improvements to crossings over this very busy section of the N25 to enhance active travel, I am told, are being considered as part of the scheme. The Deputy referenced some of those safety improvements. TII was unable to provide an allocation for that project in 2022, given the level of funding available for major roads projects. As a result, progression of the project to design and development of the business case for decision gate 1 under the public spending code was not possible last year. The delivery programme for the project will be kept under review and considered in terms of the overall funding envelope available to TII.

I suggest that considering the overall strategic development of the south west, and the very urgent safety issues the Deputy highlighted, the project should be progressed.

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