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

In my constituency there are two projects, the Mallow relief road, which I have discussed previously, and the N25 upgrade. Millions have been spent on both of those projects to bring them to design stage. Properties on the routes have been sterilised and houses cannot be sold. Property owners were left in the lurch when, for no reason whatsoever, both projects were stalled, even though the Department of Transport, I understand, handed back €7 million last year to the Department for public expenditure and reform. Will the Minister tell me if this good value for money? I understand it is going to cost a lot more to bring these projects back up and running again eventually.

On the six issues the Minister raised there, especially independent evaluation, will these kind of bizarre decisions be evaluated with a view to getting these projects up and running again, getting rid of the uncertainty and driving economic growth in these regions? Mallow town, for instance, is absolutely choked with traffic. The hope was that this would go ahead. It was right at the edge. Even Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has written to the Department of Transport begging it to make it happen.

See this speech in context