Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here tonight to take this matter in his role in the Department of Transport. The N71 is the most important route in west Cork. It is the national route that serves the entire region, coming from Cork city through Inishannon, Bandon and Clonakilty out to Skibbereen, Ballydehob, Bantry and Glengarriff. That will give the Minister of State an idea of the expanse of the route and number of communities it connects. It is much more than that. It is important infrastructure for those who commute from the towns I mentioned, perhaps to Cork city for work. It is important from a tourism point of view. It is the main route for those landing in Cork Airport, who will eventually connect with the N71 or for those coming by boat. Whichever way tourists choose to arrive, the N71 is key for access to west Cork and for transporting goods to the various different industries in the area. The Minister of State will get the point about what an important piece of infrastructure it is.

Unfortunately, for decades that route has been overlooked for funding. No significant schemes have been carried out there in previous decades. From my recollection, the last significant improvement to be done to that road was between Cork city to what we call the halfway roundabout, the first few kilometres. That was done decades ago, in the time when Joe Walsh, Jim O'Keeffe and the great Paddy Sheehan from Mizen Head were Deputies. Since then nothing has been done. Plenty of Deputies and Senators have represented the area in the time between theirs and mine. I plead with the Minister of State to look at some of the schemes that are on the table. For example, I have been told for years that a business case is being made for a section east of Rosscarbery town, between Newmills and Owenahincha, but funding or works are still not appearing. We are not seeing any movement on the bypass in Bandon or the southern relief road that has been mooted for years. The surface of the section of the road mentioned in the Topical Issue between Bandon and Clonakilty is like moon craters. At some times of the year, - it can be comical but it is actually unsafe - queues of cars are pulled in along the side of the road having to change tyres because of the condition of the surface there. We need realignment works to be done in strategic sections and proper resurfacing. The Topical Issue deals with the section between Clonakilty and Bandon, but I am talking about the N71 from Cork city all the way to Glengarriff. There are several sections for which, for the purpose of health and safely, for ease of commute and for the good of everyone we need to see funding.

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