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

I am sharing time with Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan. I thank the Minister of State for attending the debate on this very serious issue. I will focus on one aspect of road safety in my constituency of Cork South-West, namely, road conditions. As I have pointed out time and again in the Chamber, Cork county has not been getting an allocation for road funding in recent years that reflects the quantity of roads we have in the county, particularly in Cork South-West. That is leading to a gross underfunding of national roads in the county. For example, the N71, the national route serving west Cork, has not had a significant realignment or improvement project in years. That needs to change. If we are serious about saving lives and about road safety, it must change.

Then there is the allocation for regional roads. It was covered widely in the press recently that Cork county is receiving the same funding for roads, no more and no less, as it did back in 2008. That absolutely is not good enough. Cork is the largest county in terms of geography and one of the largest counties by population. It certainly is one of the largest counties in terms of contribution of road tax. That contribution needs to be reflected in the funding we receive for our roads.

There are projects for which business cases have been made for the past five years. The bypass of Bandon is one, and the realignment at Newmills junction near Rosscarbery is another. For many years, the status has remained exactly the same. We need to see investment. I am aware the Minister of State is meeting a delegation from Cork in the coming weeks to listen to its case. It is important that the point on investment be brought home. To save lives, we need improved road infrastructure and surfaces. These are key if we are serious about reducing deaths on our roads.

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