Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The most dangerous section of the N22, with the worst safety record, is the section between Ballincollig and Macroom, in particular in respect of people turning right on the road. There have been numerous accidents and many fatalities on this section. I ask the Minister, Deputy Ross, to follow up with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, on what action can be taken to make the N22 safer for people joining or exiting it between Ballincollig and Macroom. There are similar issues further west but the bypass of Macroom will address them. Each day, up to 23,000 vehicles exit Macroom onto the N22, with thousands more joining it from Ballincollig. There is considerable difficulty for people who, for example, wish to turn right at Kilcondy or into Cloghduff or Castlemore because they must sit exposed in the middle of a straight section of the road on which there is very fast traffic. Action must be taken in this regard. These issues have been highlighted repeatedly by councillors, including Gobnait Moynihan and various other public representatives.

In addition, the R585 is a key access route for west Cork. It brings a lot of traffic through Cappeen and on to Crookstown before joining the N22 at Stage Cross and at Castlemore. That traffic gets stuck queuing while trying to turn right onto the road to go on towards Cork. It is very frustrating for drivers and often someone will take a chance, which is dangerous on that road. Some of that traffic, instead of going out onto the N22, will go back over the local road through Cloghduff, Aherla and Killumney, thereby putting further pressure on traffic levels going through those villages. This junction needs to be improved. As the county council owns all of the land surrounding the junction, I ask the Minister to raise with TII the possibility of having a roundabout at that junction to make it much safer. As the road surface is failing, some work must be undertaken there soon anyway.

There is another issue further east on the Ballincollig bypass at the off-ramps at Poulavone and Greenfields. Every evening, there is traffic queuing for several hundreds of metres along that road and the hard shoulder while alongside them, there is traffic heading westwards at 120 km/h. This is highly dangerous and people are concerned. The possibility of providing an extra lane at the Ballincollig bypass needs to be examined. I ask the Minister to follow up with TII how the section of the road between Ballincollig and Macroom can be made safer for people joining and exiting the N22. It is the most dangerous section of the N22. Unfortunately, there have been many accidents and fatalities at this junction and every effort must be made to make it safer.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this important subject. It is a matter of life and death which makes it vital and very relevant. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for overall policy and funding relating to the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.

Ireland has just under 100,000 km of road in its network and the maintenance and improvement of national, regional and local roads place a substantial financial burden on local authorities and on the Exchequer. Due to the national financial position, there were very large reductions in Exchequer funding available for roads expenditure after the financial crisis. The building on recovery capital plan for 2016 to 2021 and the capital plan review allocations mark a significant step forward in terms of restoring funding to the levels needed to maintain the road network in a steady state condition and to allow for investment in road improvement schemes.

Within its capital budget, the assessment and prioritisation of individual projects is a matter in the first instance for TII in accordance with section 19 of the Roads Act. Minor improvement schemes were included in the road safety strategy. TII is maintaining an ongoing rolling programme of minor projects. To date, 42 minor schemes have been completed. Available funding has allowed TIl to maintain delivery on a minimum of four schemes each year and to prepare additional schemes on an ongoing basis. TII advises me that the authority envisages continuing to undertake a minimum of four schemes a year.

I understand from TII that on the section of the N22 to which the Deputy refers, one accident site has been identified at Castlemore through the HD 15 process. The HD 15 process involves the recording of accident clusters and the identification of locations where accident statistics are above average. The local authority has been notified of this accident location and has been requested to prepare a feasibility report suggesting appropriate interventions to improve safety. Once prepared, it will be submitted to TIl for consideration for an appropriate course of action and possible funding. On receipt of an acceptable feasibility report, funding may be provided by Tll for any work required to improve safety on the national road, including this junction.

As the Deputy has referred to traffic to and from local and regional roads to the N22, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads in Cork is the statutory responsibility of Cork County Council, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from the council’s resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded are also matters for the council. Cork County Council has the authority to provide traffic calming measures on roads in its charge.

There are many competing demands across the system but overall we are moving in the right direction. TII and local authorities will continue to maintain a focus on network safety.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the Minister's remarks about Castlemore Cross. It is known as one of the more dangerous sections of the road so it is good that there is a plan to progress matters there. However, many other sections of the road must be addressed. The low cost safety schemes, as the name suggests, are smallscale, but bigger solutions are required in the different areas I identified for the Minister. One example is the traffic queues on the Ballincollig bypass off ramp. Dealing with that will require a much bigger scale job and largescale funding. If there is to be an extra lane or if works are to be carried out the Minister needs to highlight that to TII.

Stage Cross on the western end will also be much more expensive than the smallscale works but it would offer far more safety on the road. The TII should examine that. Perhaps the Minister could raise with TII the possibility of building a roundabout there. The land is already owned by the county council. A large fleet of traffic travels through there from west Cork as it is the main access route for west Cork. It is very difficult and dangerous at that point. The Kilconly junction immediately adjacent to it has been highlighted repeatedly to TII. It could offer the opportunity of a solution. There must be an overall examination of the section of road between Ballincollig and Macroom by the TII to see the issues that could be dealt with. Perhaps TII could conduct a complete review of the road to make it safer and report back on that. I would appreciate if the Minister would raise that with TII and impress on the organisation the large number of injuries, accidents and, unfortunately, fatalities that have occurred on the road and ask it to address that.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Could the Deputy provide me with detailed statistics on where the accidents have happened on that road, particularly fatalities and collisions? I will be delighted to pass them on. Obviously, the TII already has some details because it has identified one place at Castlemore and will be acting on that. If what the Deputy said is true, it is very worrying. If he can provide some additional statistics on the road I will be happy to address that.

Elimination is impossible but the Government is committed to further dramatic reduction in the number of deaths and collisions on our roads. We will do everything we can to tackle this tragic problem. The TII is only one part of that equation and it is doing very good work in identifying black spots, which will be part of saving lives. I have introduced legislation on drunk driving which I hope has helped and I intend to introduce further legislation on speeding. Those are the two principal killers on our roads. I hope that will add to the reduction in the loss of life that occurred last year. The numbers we have for this year are down again but not down enough. They will never be down enough.

If the Deputy has identified an area which is prone to accidents for various reasons I will be happy to raise it with TII and pass on any information the Deputy gives me, not just from this debate but if he has additional information as well. That would be very helpful.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I will make that available.