Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to upgrade the Castlebar to Westport N5 road. [22896/13]

Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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43. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of the recent contract signing for the N11/Newlands Cross Public Private Partnership, if he will provide an update on the M17/M18 Gort to Tuam road project, County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22683/13]

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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51. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of the success of statewide road safety, his plans to focus to specific road safety blackspots such as the Castlebaldwin to Cloonamahon stretch of the N4 which has been the scene of the loss of 30 lives in recent memory. [22893/13]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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86. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the Macroom town bypass, County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22668/13]

Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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91. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of the recent contract signing for the N11/Newlands Cross Public Private Partnership, if he will provide an update on the roads building programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22767/13]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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93. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on the Galway City Outer Bypass with regard to an IROPI application which is necessary to progress this much-needed infrastructure project for Galway and the West. [22950/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 43, 51, 86, 91 and 93 together.

As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in respect of the national roads programme.  The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects is a matter for the National Roads Authority, NRA, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. In the current economic circumstances, the capital allocations to the NRA have been reduced significantly and this has meant that a range of worthwhile improvement projects have been deferred. The primary focus for direct Exchequer spending is the maintenance of the existing network, and this will continue to be the case for some years.

The Government's stimulus package of July 2012 envisages €1.4 billion in private investment for infrastructure projects, including roads, as a way of stimulating economic growth and creating employment.  These projects must be off-balance sheet and, therefore, must be done by way of public private partnership, PPP. This requires that the projects must be of a particular scale. The M17-M18 PPP scheme is one of the priority projects identified for inclusion in the first phase of the programme.  The NRA is responsible for implementation of the project, and following the contract signing for the N11 Newlands Cross PPP, the NRA is in discussion with the preferred bidder for the M17-M18 project with a view to progressing it. The other two projects which are highlighted within the stimulus programme are the M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy project and the N25 New Ross bypass project.

When the stimulus programme was announced, it was indicated that as the first phase projects progressed and as funding permitted, a second phase would be considered.  In this regard, particular prominence was attached to the Galway city outer bypass project. As the Deputies will be aware, this has been the subject of legal challenge and the European Court has only recently delivered its judgement in the case. The matter has been referred back to the Irish Supreme Court. The NRA and the local authority are currently examining the implications of the European Court's decision and the most appropriate response.

To ensure there might be projects suitable for inclusion in future phases of the PPP programme in the medium term, the NRA has decided to take a number of projects through the planning process to develop a pipeline of potential future projects. In this regard, I understand the NRA intends to submit to the N5 Westport to Turlough project and the N5 Colloney to Castlebaldwin project to An Bord Pleanála later in the year. The Macroom bypass project was approved by An Bord Pleanála in April 2011. However, a judicial review against the approval of the scheme was heard and rejected by the High Court. I understand the applicant has sought leave to appeal against the High Court’s decision. A determination on whether leave to appeal will be granted is due to be made in July.  Depending on the outcome of the latter, this is a project which the NRA may give consideration to including in a future round of PPP projects.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. He stated that the National Roads Authority, NRA, was considering a public-private partnership, PPP, for the N5, but it is important that we consider all alternatives. The Minister outlined the number of capital projects, but it has been reported that he would consider other main projects if there was extra money. The N4 and N5 are important. The north west is one of the areas with the least in terms of road structures and has been neglected. Some newspapers have reported that the Department might have money available for capital projects, including road projects. There is a major problem in County Sligo, where one stretch of road has seen 30 deaths. This is another urgent consideration.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his intervention. If money from any source is available this year, the priority must be road maintenance. Some of the country's roads are in a bad way and need money to be repaired. It is important to make a distinction between Exchequer money and PPP money. By and large, the latter comes from the private sector - for example, banks, bondholders and other groups that enter 30-year contracts to build and maintain roads and lease them back to the State. It is a different way of procuring roads.

We want a pipeline of PPPs ready. The pipeline was blocked for four years because of the financial crisis but has started to trickle again. For example, the Newlands Cross and N11 projects have been signed off and will go ahead. If we can move ahead with the Gort-Tuam project, which is the next one on the list, and the Enniscorthy and New Ross roads, we want another few projects in the pipeline to enter the system. The irony is that the projects must be large, amounting to hundreds of millions of euro. There are better projects that are much cheaper, but they cannot be pursued because they would need to be done using Exchequer funding.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response. I am a long-time supporter of the Galway city outer bypass, which has been tied up in court for a number of years. Last month, the European Court of Justice ruled on it and the matter has reverted to the Supreme Court. Will the Minister reiterate his and the Government's support for the bypass? Will he comment on the imperative reasons of overriding public interest, IROPI, process and whether it can or should be pursued prior to a decision by the Supreme Court?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to reiterate the Government's commitment to the Galway city outer bypass, which has a benefit-to-cost ratio, BCR, of 6:1. Of all of the projects on the books, this one has the highest BCR. It makes a great deal of sense. Anyone who knows Galway knows that this project needs to be progressed once we overcome the planning permission issues. The former Minister, Mr. Noel Dempsey, took a decision to suspend planning works on the project. I intend to lift that ban so that the NRA can develop a new planning permission should it need to do so.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. Since the announcement of the stimulus plan, we have waited for the N11-Newlands Cross project to get the go-ahead. That has now happened.

The Minister stated that negotiations are under way with the preferred bidder on the M17-M18 project. How far along are they and when does the Minister expect them to conclude? It is a key infrastructural project for Galway and the west. Not only would it create construction jobs; it would also create jobs in the entire region, which is starved of them currently. When will we see contracts signed?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am loth to put a date on it. In respect of the N11-Newlands Cross project, I kept predicting that it would happen in a few months' time, but it did not. On the day it happened, I did not believe that it actually would. In fact, I had a €5 bet with my Secretary General, which he won on the day. I do not want to apply a timeframe. The NRA is handling this commercial discussion on behalf of the Government. It has asked the preferred bidder whether the latter will stand over the price quoted some years ago. If so, it will be a step forward. If not, the second bidder must be approached. This is how matters stand. As much as my involvement permits, I want the project to happen as quickly as possible.

Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the announcement on the commencement of the Newlands Cross project. Another strategic interchange can be found at Osberstown on the M7, which is vital in light of Kerry Group's jobs announcement. Will the Minister indicate whether funding will be made available for this interchange?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am sorry, but I cannot at this stage. However, I would be happy to reply to the Deputy's query by correspondence. Suffice it to say that the road infrastructure will be in place for the Kerry Group jobs that have been announced so far.