John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The serious difficulties that exist on the N24 between Mooncoin and Carrick-on-Suir were highlighted at a meeting in Piltown community centre on Monday night which was attended by 500 local people from the surrounding areas. All of the people who attended the meeting, which was organised by the local priest, Fr. Moore, and a community activist, Robert Duggan, are interested in restoring safety along this stretch of roadway. There were ten white crosses behind the backs of those who addressed the packed audience at the meeting from the main table. Fr. Moore referred to the roadway in question as the "valley of death". When this road was being designed and constructed between 1995 and 2002, when it opened, there were constant difficulties with the National Roads Authority, NRA, as it was at the time, and the engineer on the project. Those who raised matters with regard to the road, including the local radio station, were often challenged legally so that they would stop doing so. This happened to me as a member of the local council at the time. To this day, nobody has officially opened the road. Everyone in this House knows that when money is spent on a road, some politician will cut the tape. I have nothing against that. Even though this road was funded through the NRA, it is the road that nobody wanted.

Every effort to get the NRA, and now Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to look at the road has failed. Money was allocated for an overpass on this stretch of road in 2012. Everyone has been demanding such an overpass since the road was originally designed, but those responsible have still not given in and provided it, despite many deaths and numerous accidents. Most of the accidents on this stretch of road are recorded by the local gardaí, but others are not even reported. This notorious piece of road, where two roads go into one, is the worst piece of engineering one will ever see. The firm line of wire going down the centre of the road is a danger to motorcyclists and pedestrians, as we heard the other night. Local people and others who want to travel in a certain direction on the road have to travel in the opposite direction so that they can turn back. It is unbelievable that such a road was funded and constructed by the NRA. If the NRA had taken account of the issues it ignored at that time, we would have a different, safer road now. It was only when a local farmer, Donal Norris, drove his cattle down this road that the NRA was forced to provide a safe underpass. He should not have had to encounter such difficulties as he sought to achieve his rights. It was absolutely shocking that he was treated in such a way by a State agency.

We are looking to the future now. We are asking for a complete redesign of the roadway in question. The redesign must take account of every single turn off the roadway and every single safety issue that has been raised with regard to it. We are asking for funding to be made available immediately in order that overpasses can be provided and the necessary work can be done.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for observing the time limits.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Deputy McGuinness for raising this important Topical Issue matter. As he knows, I will meet Deputies from the area in question tomorrow. This is a matter that concerns them all. I know the Deputy has raised it on their behalf today. Before I refer to the scripted reply, I think it is reasonable for me to say that the Deputy has made a fairly compelling case. I intend to tell the Deputies at tomorrow's meeting that I am planning to ask Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, to respond to them and to report to me on this road purely in terms of safety. I think that is the case Deputy McGuinness has made. I hear many pleas for roads projects on Topical Issue matters, but it is unusual for me to hear such a compelling case from a safety perspective. If the statistics mentioned by the Deputy are right, and they may well be, I think this should be looked at. There is no adequate answer when there are road deaths, or when there is a lack of road safety. Perhaps the road is not as bad as the Deputy has suggested, but if it is that bad, he deserves to get a serious and considered response.

As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I am responsible for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for TII under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. The assessment and prioritisation of individual projects are matters for TII in the first instance, within its capital budget, in accordance with section 19 of the Roads Act 1993. Therefore, decisions relating to the N24 are operational matters for TII. As I have said, I will ask TII for a direct response to what the Deputy has had to say. The capital plan that was published in September 2015 outlined the Government's proposed transport investment priorities to 2022. The transport element of the plan was framed by the conclusions reached in my Department’s strategic investment framework for land transport. This report highlighted the importance of maintaining and renewing transport infrastructure and making targeted investments to address particular bottlenecks and critical safety issues. The capital plan provides €6 billion for investment in the roads network in the period to 2022, with €4.4 billion earmarked for the maintenance and strengthening of the existing extensive network throughout the country and €1.6 billion earmarked for new projects.

Allowing for the commitments relating to public private partnership projects, the balance available for new projects within the available capital envelope is limited. As Minister, I have to work within the annual allocations set out in the plan. In this context, the capital plan provides for a gradual build-up in capital funding from the current relatively low base towards the levels needed to support maintenance and improvement works. It will take some years under the capital plan to restore steady-state funding levels for land transport. There will have to continue to be a focus on the maintenance and renewal of infrastructure. There will be a significant ramp-up in funding from 2020. This will facilitate the construction of the road improvement projects included in the plan.

While available funding is not sufficient to address all the demands for improvement schemes, including schemes such as the upgrade of the N24, by the end of the plan period, I expect that capital funding for the road network will be back up to the levels needed to support maintenance and improvement works in the future. On the possibility of additional funding within the plan period, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform indicated in his budget speech that he is bringing forward the capital plan review. There is a strong case for additional funding for the transport sector, which I will make robustly.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I must interrupt. I call Deputy McGuinness.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Again, the reason for raising this issue is not because it has just arisen. This is an issue that has gone on since 1995, right through the course of the design and building of the road in question. It is so dangerous that, as I said, 500 people attended the meeting that was held. I am asking the Minister whether he will come and examine that stretch of roadway. In a contribution made earlier by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, in respect of a parliamentary question, she said that she indicates her priorities to Tusla. I am asking the Minister, Deputy Ross, in the context of his priorities, which are safety on our roads and representation for local communities, whether he will agree to say to Transport Infrastructure Ireland that he wants the funds allocated to this project.

Before he does that, will he come to visit the stretch of roadway involved so he can see for himself the plight of the local community and the desperate need for the road to be redesigned? It is not good enough to have an analysis or a report. We know what has happened. The Minister should listen to the local community and respond to it by ensuring that safety is restored by investment in the road. These are local people who use the road every day going to school or to work in Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir, as well as others who use it by way of connection along the route.

The money was there for an overpass and it was emphasised at the meeting to which I refer that had that money been spent when it was allocated in 2012, it would have relieved some of the issues. Two overpasses are needed. A new, modern, safe approach to the design of that road would eliminate the issues confronting this local community and people in the surrounding areas once and for all.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am aware that there was a recent accident at Tower Hill junction between Piltown and Fiddown. This junction was the subject of an accident improvement project a number of years ago and the safety section of Transport Infrastructure Ireland is, as the Deputy knows, reviewing the junction in conjunction with the county council to see if further improvements can be implemented.

We do need answers, if what the Deputy says is correct. Safety is obviously a top priority and it comes above improvements in the roads. It is imperative that we address this matter. I take the Deputy's point. I hope he will accept that I will certainly ensure that Transport Infrastructure Ireland reports to me as soon as possible on what he has said about safety, because that is something which has to go to the top of the pile before road improvements.

As to whether I will come down to Kilkenny and have a look, I have known the Deputy for a very long time and this is the first occasion on which he has ever invited me down to Kilkenny, which is-----

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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It is the second.

Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Ross is the Minister now.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am sure that has something to do with it. I find it extremely flattering that he would ask me to do so and I see absolutely no reason why I should not come down. If it is anywhere near the Tipperary border, I will nip over and see Deputy Mattie McGrath as well, who is also happy down there.

If there is a safety issue, it is important that it is addressed by a Minister. I will look at what Transport Infrastructure Ireland has to say and at the statistics in order to see whether they are consistent with what the Deputy says. If that is the case, I will be delighted to come to visit the Deputy in Kilkenny and have a look at the road to which he refers, which extends beyond his own constituency's boundaries.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister.