Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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On my behalf, and on behalf of the people of Bantry, I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this matter to be discussed and I thank the Minister of State for attending to respond. I want to know the status of the plans to build the Bantry bypass and the intended timetable for the project. Bantry overlooks Bantry Bay in the heart of west Cork and is a large market town, acting as a hub in the south west, providing commercial, retail and tourism and leisure facilities for locals and visitors. As one of the larger towns in west Cork, it has a population of 4,000 people and serves a catchment area of 12,000 people. It is a busy community with plenty activity all year round. Bantry is in the heart of the area and serves an area that is as large as some counties. It serves the local community very well and provides the lifeblood for the local population and business. Like any heart, with years of abuse with traffic congestion, it badly needs a bypass. The heart can then rebuild and regenerate.

Tourism is an important part of the Department's brief and Bantry is a key hub for tourists visiting the region. Unfortunately, the commercial, tourism, agriculture and commuting traffic is pitched into a single town where the topography is difficult. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, is aware that Bantry will host the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, the Masters of Tradition Irish Music Festival, the West Cork Literary Festival, the Bay Run half marathon with 1,000 participants, the Irish National Windsurfing Championships, the Fastnet Rally and the Bantry show. These are annual events and it lends to difficulties for Bantry in terms of traffic congestion.

The Bantry regional general hospital is on or near the proposed route and I do not have to spell out the difficulties that may occur with emergencies. I referred to the N71 and the nature of the traffic on this single carriageway route from Cork, through the southern part of the constituency to Bantry and on to Kerry. It must deal with agricultural, tourism and commuting traffic, which leads to congestion throughout the route. There are also significant fisheries loads at peak times of the weekend, which adds to congestion. It is the fourth largest harbour in terms of tonnage and the case always has been made and agreed that there is a requirement for a bypass in Bantry.

To this end, Cork County Council has played a significant role in acquiring land. The process is practically complete and the remainder of the lands needed have been agreed already with the council. The project is shovel ready. The proposal is even more critical because a new secondary school was constructed in Bantry. It is due to open later this year and is an amalgamation of three schools in the region. One can imagine the congestion when the pupils of three schools from separate areas are now focused in one area. This lead to congestion and danger for pedestrians and young teenagers attending school. Unlike the constituency of the Minister of State, Cork South-West does not have a single inch of dual carriageway or motorway. There is a single carriageway throughout the constituency, which leads to a lot of difficulties especially around Bantry.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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My constituency is in the heart of Ireland and to get anywhere one has to go through it, hence the motorway.

I am taking this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Varadkar, and I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address this issue in the House. The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Work on those roads is funded from local authorities own resources, supplemented by State road grants paid by my Department. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for local authorities.

My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, announced the 2012 regional and local road grant allocations on 30 January 2012. This year, a total of €379 million is being provided under the regional and local roads investment programme. From that allocation, Cork County Council has been provided with an allocation of €45.3 million.

The level of grants allocated to individual local authorities is determined having regard to a number of factors. These factors include the total funds available in a particular year, eligibility criteria for the different road grant schemes, road pavement conditions, length of road network, the need to prioritise projects and competing demands from other local authorities. In determining the annual grant allocation, the overall objective remains to supplement the resources provided by each local authority in a fair and appropriate manner.

In November 2011, Cork County Council wrote to my Department seeking funding for the Bantry relief road as a strategic regional and local road scheme. This stream of grants was introduced in 2006 to cater for schemes that make a significant contribution towards the aims of the national spatial strategy. The council informed my Department that this project could be broken into two phases, phase 1 had received Part 8 planning approval and that the compulsory purchase order for this phase had been published and confirmed.

My Department replied to the council on 23 November 2011 requesting it to complete the appropriate application form in order for the project to be given full consideration. To date this application form has not been returned by the council. It should be noted that the funding available for projects under the strategic regional and local roads programme in 2012 is just €20 million, down from €87 million in 2008. This will of necessity restrict the funding for new projects with priority being given to projects already committed to.

As I stated, primary responsibility for the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads rests with local authorities. State grants are intended to supplement realistic contributions by local authorities from their own resources and it is open to Cork County Council to progress the project through its own resources should it wish to do so. The 2012 regional and local road grants have now been fully allocated and there are no further funds available from which an allocation for this project could be made.

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. The council received an application form from the Department. It is quite an onerous form, as he may be aware. Part of the application process was the requirement to carry out a significant cost benefit analysis. My information is that Atkins has completed that analysis and that was the reason there was a delay. The application form is almost complete and will be ready to go to the Department for further consideration. I appeal to the Minister of State to consider what I said about the emerging situation in Bantry vis-À-vis the new amalgamated school.

I take the point about 2012 allocations and funding. We have made significant progress with regard to the troika and sale of State assets. There is potential to invest in projects that provide a good cost benefit analysis, are beneficial to local economies and are shovel ready. The Bantry relief project ticks all those boxes. If it cannot be done before the sale of State assets or in 2012, I ask when the application is submitted from the county council, which is very proactive in promoting the project, that the Department give it a favourable mention.

It has been going on for as long as I can remember. I have been on the council since 1999 and it was an issue well before then. It is getting worse and needs to be addressed. The total cost is in the region of €15 million, which is not a large amount compared to that spent in counties like Tipperary and elsewhere. We are not trying to be greedy. We just need this project to get off the ground.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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As I said, if money had not been spent in my constituency people would not be able to travel around the country. As the Deputy knows, Bantry is a town I know exceptionally well. As a former MEP I visited it quite a bit and I accept the comments of the Deputy on the typography. I know the structure of the lands. I had regular knowledge of the mussel festival and many other events take place each year.

I accept the comments of the Deputy on the hospital. I visited it on a number of occasions and I am aware of where it is located. I accept his comments on schools. I visited a number of schools there and know many of the people working there, some of whom have recently retired. I accept what he said about the requirements. Many other competing towns say the same thing.

To be frank, the application will detail a lot and based on it, and the cost benefit analysis, judgments will be made on the status of the project in regard to future projects. From that data we will glean whether the project can be pushed forward. There are many other competing projects. We will have to wait for the application to be submitted. The amount of funding available for new road projects over the coming years is very limited. Having said that, we will analyse the data we receive.