Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me and my colleague, Deputy Brendan Griffin, raise this matter. The realignment of the N22 is a critical piece of regional infrastructure. The work stretches from the eastern side of Macroom town, at Coolcower, to the western side of Ballyvourney to Sliabh Riabhach, and represents approximately 40 km of realignment involving five roundabouts and 20 bridges. This is a significant piece of infrastructure that will cost €200 million plus. I thank the Minister for his assistance in progressing this project to date. I thank him particularly for dealing with the CPOs that have been issued to landowners and their entitlement to a goodwill payment. As far as I am aware, all of the landowners along the route have, by and large, co-operated fully over a long number of years. As the Minister is aware, the project was delayed for a significant period in the courts, but this was beyond the control of the landowners.

Most towns, like Macroom, have a natural hinterland which drives their economic development. Macroom is hindered by the lack of a bypass. Most of its western residents are pulled towards Killarney and most of its eastern residents are pulled towards Cork City, simply because of heavy traffic congestion in the centre of the town. A number of fatalities have occurred in the town, and in the past week an elderly citizen was knocked down because of congestion. A number of pinch points need to be addressed and will be addressed in the context of the bypass.

We need to make up for the lost years. This project was drip-fed during the so-called boom years of the Celtic tiger during the previous Administration. We have an opportunity now to hitch our wagon to other infrastructural projects locally, particularly the Dunkettle interchange, which has a high ranking with the NRA. We need to catch up and I would like the Minister to assist us in this regard by working with the NRA and directing it to fast-track this project so that both projects can be bundled together.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for allowing us raise this issue. I also thank the Minister for attending the House to deal with the debate.

I wish to acknowledge the work of my colleague, Deputy Michael Creed, on this over many years. I have been a public representative for the past four and a half years, but Deputy Creed has been highlighting and working on this issue for many years. I commend him on his continuous work. This is an important matter and we need to see progress. I commend the Minister on his work to date, but we want to see the project kept at the top of the agenda as vital regional infrastructure. From the Kerry perspective this project is hugely important, because the road linking Kerry and Cork is substandard. If we want to attract industry into the county, we have two main arteries connecting Kerry with other parts of the country. One is via Limerick and the other is via Cork. This project concerns the Cork artery. We need to see this road improved if we are to have any hope of attracting investment into the county of Kerry.

The road is also important in the tourism context. As everyone knows, Kerry is hugely important for tourism, but bringing people to Kerry from Cork via the road is currently difficult. Many people have to travel daily from Kerry to Cork to avail of vital health services, for example at the oncology unit in Cork University Hospital. Many cancer patients have to travel to Cork daily over a period of weeks for treatment.

It is a terrible road on which to travel. From a safety point of view, I knew people who lost their lives on it during the years and it needs to be improved. Will the Minister try to ensure its prioritisation through a public private partnership? That would be a way to get the work done as soon as possible. Being realistic, it would one way of prioritising the project. Is this something the Minister will pursue? I ask him to outline what he sees as being the future timeframe for the road project.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank both Deputies for giving me the opportunity to address this issue in the House.

As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding for the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects are matters for the National Roads Authority, NRA, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its capital budget, the assessment and prioritisation of individual projects are matters, in the first instance, for the NRA, in accordance with section 19 of the Roads Act, but the NRA does consult me on these matters. The national financial position has meant very large reductions in roads expenditure in recent years. The NRA has a budget of just under €320 million for improvement and maintenance works on national roads this year. A total of €21.28 million has been allocated this year by the NRA for improvement works in County Kerry and €1.35 million for maintenance works. A total of €7.3 million has been allocated to Cork County Council by the NRA for improvement works and €1.7 million for maintenance works.

The reality is that on a national basis the available funds simply do not match the amount of work we want to do. The Government's published capital expenditure framework sets out the extent to which major new road construction projects are being scaled down in the period between now and 2016. For this reason, it is not possible to progress a range of worthwhile projects and the main focus has to be on the maintenance and repair of roads. This will remain the position in the coming years. As a result, no new major Exchequer funded development projects are scheduled to start construction in the short term. Three further public private partnership projects are, however, being progressed. These are the Gort to Tuam dual carriageway motorway, the New Ross bypass and the Gorey to Enniscorthy road.

The N22 project is the Ballyvourney to Macroom improvement scheme which aims to bypass Macroom town and involves the construction of 43 km of new carriageway from the end of the Ballincollig bypass to Ballyvourney. The project was the subject of a judicial review against approval of the scheme, but the legal challenge has been rejected. As a result, notices to treat have been served on affected landowners who, as Deputy Michael Creed mentioned, will be eligible for the goodwill payment as it went to An Bord Pleanála many years ago. I thank him for raising the matter with me some weeks ago. This means that once the land is bought, the project will be shovel ready. The NRA has made an allocation of €400,000 in respect of this project for 2013.

I have had some discussions with the NRA on the matter with a view to pursuing it as a public private partnership. The intention is to go ahead with the Gort to Tuam road project which is first on the list and has already gone to tender and then to deal with the New Ross and Gorey to Enniscorthy projects. As the Macroom to Ballyvourney and Dunkettle projects are the only ones with full planning permission - at that stage the land will be purchased - it is planned to pursue them either separately or as a bundle under a public private partnership scheme.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response, in particular his acknowledgement that linking the project with the Dunkettle project offers the best opportunity to fast-track it. With regard to the private aspect of public private partnerships, is the Minister confident that there is sufficient interest or signs that there will be at a time when tender documents can be designed for this purpose to enable the project to proceed seamlessly once the land is purchased? As I understand it, not all of the land must be purchased by the time the project may be ready for a public private partnership tender process. I welcome what the Minister stated and urge him to keep the project at the top of his list of priorities. I appreciate what he stated about the Gort to Tuam, New Ross and Enniscorthy projects, but, as I stated, this is critical regional infrastructure. That is not parochialism; rather, it is regional infrastructure in counties Cork and Kerry and which is significant in the south west. I urge the Minister to keep it at the top of his agenda.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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It is certainly encouraging to hear about this project in the context of public private partnerships. Realistically, it is the best way of getting the road built as soon as possible. If it could be bundled with the Dunkettle project, that would be the way to move forward. I ask the Minister to keep this on his radar and high on his agenda because, as Deputy Michael Creed pointed out, it is a regional infrastructural project. I outlined the importance of the new road to County Kerry, but the entire region would benefit hugely. I feel sorry for people who must live in Macroom which is a lovely town but which is completely choked with traffic, as we have seen in other places. This is an absolute shame which is holding back the town. A bypass could make a huge difference to the economy of the town and, as I mentioned, the economy of County Kerry also. I ask the Minister to pursue the public private partnership option and examine whether the project could be bundled with the Dunkettle project to have it done as quickly as possible.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I know the road well because I travel to County Kerry a lot because it is a very strong tourism county and part of the Department is located in Killarney. I regularly pass over the bridge in Macroom and have no doubt that the road needs to be built. For the information of Deputies, the cost benefit ratio for the Macroom to Ballyvourney road is +3 and the road to Dunkettle, +5, which, in both cases, is very favourable. Many road projects completed in the past were at +2 or +1. Therefore, the cost benefit ratio is very positive in this regard.

Deputy Michael Creed is correct as all of the land does not have to be purchased before the project goes to tender, but obviously it will have to be purchased before it goes to construction. The only difficulty I have with public private partnerships is as they involve the public and private sectors, it is not as straightforward as the Government tendering for someone to do the job and then giving the tender to the cheapest or best bidder. It involves putting together a set of funders, usually involving banks, pension funds and the European Investment Bank. Each of these funders has its own board and credit committee and each must have its own legal contracts, legal teams and guarantees. The first public private partnership in the transport sector which made it over the line since I became Minister was the one at Newlands Cross and also for the N11 project, which were bundled together. This took two years from the time it was decided to go with them to when we were able to turn the sod. There have been delays on the road project from Gort to Tuam, but I am still confident that it will start in the first quarter of next year. However, I cannot guarantee it.

With the NRA, we are exploring pursuing both projects as public private partnerships. Whether it makes sense to bundle them is another issue. It may or may not, but we will certainly explore it. I believe it is the best chance of pursuing them. The fact that they have full planning permission, unlike so many other road projects which did not obtain permission, and the fact that the land has been purchased means that they will be way up there after the next couple of projects which must go through. I would not like to make a promise of a time commitment because it is not in my hands and involves other players.