Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Michael Moynihan for raising this important issue, which I am answering on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who unfortunately is unable to attend.

The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding for the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TIl, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Ultimately, TII delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the NDP.

Approximately €491 million of Exchequer capital funds have been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2023. These allocations were announced by the Department of Transport and TIl on 16 February 2023. A major priority in the NDP, in line with the Department’s investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road network. The NDP foresees an Exchequer allocation of approximately €2.9 billion for the protection and renewal of existing national roads over the ten years to 2030, allocated fairly evenly across the decade.

Each year, TIl carries out a collision analysis of the entire national road network. The purpose of this exercise is to identify locations that have high concentrations of collisions. It does not, however, include the subsequent process to devise proposals to identify road safety interventions. This is the responsibility of the relevant local authority, as the road authority for the area in the first instance. Regarding safety issues in Charleville, a high collision location was identified through the network safety analysis undertaken in 2019, and this information was forwarded to Cork County Council for its consideration. TII is aware that the county council is considering improvements at two locations in Charleville, at the New Line junction and the filling station at the southern end of the town. TIl is committed to working with the county council to see what safety measures can be identified in the short term to improve road safety in Charleville.

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