David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. What was the situation last year? Was there an underspend last year? If so, what was it and what happened to that funding? Was it handed back to his Department or what happens in cases such as that?

Is he concerned about roads projects that are advanced to a certain level, costing in some cases millions of euro, and then halted? If they are halted for quite a while, they might have to start again, including public consultation and so on. Is the Minister or his Department concerned about the loss of finance in such instances? The Mallow relief road is a project I have brought to the attention of the House previously and on which quite a lot of money has been spent. This is going back quite a while, when the Minister was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. He okayed the project. Now it has been halted for the sake of €1.4 million that was expected by the local authority and TII but was not delivered. The Minister for Transport says that a shortage of money in his Department has stopped the project. Mallow town is truly suffering because of lorries and cars passing through the main street, which they should not do. The town has a very good project, which includes active travel, cycling, walkways and so on. It is at an advanced level and it has been halted or no reason whatsoever. The reason I have been given is lack of finance.

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