Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I note that the Minister, Deputy Chambers, who is responsible for infrastructure, is beside the Taoiseach. The issue I raise today is the need for a second bridge in Celbridge. Celbridge, a town very close to where I live, has required a second bridge for decades. The population was 1,500 when the current infrastructure was put in place. It now has a population of 23,000. When I was a councillor, it was put down on our local area plan in 2017 that a bridge would have to be installed before any further development would take place. A certain element of funding was put in place for that bridge.

When will we see a significant level of funding being put in place for infrastructure in counties like Kildare, where there is a bridge ready to go, where there are plans and we are going through the phases with An Bord Pleanála? I want to ensure that the funding is ready to go in that case, which is akin to Maynooth, where LIHAF funding is required for a relief road. I am interested to hear where we are in relation to those situations.

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