Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I should not be here today. I am looking for an update on a project, namely the Coonagh-Knockalisheen distributor road, which would effectively take out the cul-de-sac that Moyross currently is. In 2007 the then Government and the Cabinet committee on social inclusion, as part of a regeneration project, produced a report which became known as the Fitzgerald report. One of its key recommendations was to consider improving accessibility into Moyross. The report specifically identified that the Coonagh-Knockalisheen distributor road should be progressed as a matter of urgency. The people of Moyross are still waiting 13 years later. As of this moment Limerick City and County Council has gone through the tender process and is about to award a contract, but the document is on the Minister's desk for approval. I have discussed this with the Minister at length over recent weeks. I feel we have committed to the project as a Government under the national development plan and the Fitzgerald report.

The project stands on its own merits on a number of levels. It is a €58 million project. To date, €17 million of taxpayers' money has been spent on the project - wisely, in my view, but nevertheless a third of the money has been spent. The breakdown is €9.47 million on advance work contracts, €1.4 million on other works and archaeology, €3.7 million on land and property and €2.7 million on planning and design. If one looks from Coonagh Cross over towards Moyross and at the back of Caherdavin, one will see the works. The physical works have already started on the road. Furthermore, €5 million has already been allocated to the project this year which they have not been able to use. This is about improving access. A road from Coonagh to Knockalisheen would stand on its own merits and take Moyross away from being a cul-de-sac for social, economic and accessibility reasons.

Furthermore, there is a rail network running alongside Moyross which would provide the added advantage of opening that up to provide a railway station. All the lands around it have been procured, so a proper park-and-ride facility could be provided. It would also ensure that the bus network could be made more efficient. At present a bus goes into Moyross, into Pineview Gardens, which is a cul-de-sac, meaning it has to turn back. A separate bus goes into Ballynanty. That should be a streamlined service from Coonagh to Knockalisheen, down the Knockalisheen Road and out by Hassett's Cross. Furthermore, cycling and walking facilities could be provided all along the link, which would aid healthy living.

Everyone in Limerick is in favour of this project: Limerick Chamber, the council, civic leaders and, most particularly, the people of Moyross, on the north side of the city. I would like to hear an update on the project. We need to get it fully delivered. It is a stand-alone project. This is about ensuring we fulfil the commitment given to the people of Moyross under the regeneration programme to ensure that Moyross is no longer a cul-de-sac. The road would provide many other socio-economic and accessibility-related advantages to the area. I hope the news today will be that the Minister will now sign off on the proposal to allow the contractors to conclude this stand-alone project, which is both a socio-economic and an accessibility project for the people of Moyross. I met the Moyross Residents Forum with my fellow Oireachtas Members on Monday night. They cannot understand what the delay is here. They have been waiting for this project since 2007. We need to see it delivered now.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I join Deputy O'Donnell in committing absolutely to giving the very best transport system possible to the people of Moyross and, more widely, the people of Limerick.

The improvement and maintenance of local and regional roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. State grants, where applicable, are intended to supplement the funding allocated to the maintenance and improvement of roads by local authorities from their own resources.

The national development plan does provide for the gradual build up in funding for the road network but funding is not yet at the level needed for the adequate maintenance and renewal of regional and local roads. For this reason the primary focus for capital investment continues to be the maintenance and renewal of the network with some limited investment in road improvement schemes. In this context 12 regional and local road improvement schemes were identified for development, subject to necessary approvals, in the NDP, and the construction of the Coonagh-Knockalisheen distributor road is one of those schemes.

I am aware that the origins of this scheme lie, as the Deputy said, in the Limerick regeneration programme. The distributor road was one of a range of measures proposed in a report prepared in 2007 by John Fitzgerald to address social exclusion and deprivation in the Moyross area. The lack of accessibility, including the lack of pedestrian and cycling access, in the Moyross area was seen as a barrier to economic development and as contributing to social exclusion. The masterplan developed subsequently by the Limerick Regeneration Board in 2008 set out detailed action plans for the regeneration of disadvantaged areas in Limerick, including Moyross, with improved transport and access seen as important tools in improving socio-economic conditions. The aim was to attract mixed-use development to the area to promote local employment and services and provide public transport services together with high quality infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.

While my Department agreed to support the project some ten years ago, the funding cutbacks associated with the post-2008 recession delayed implementation of the scheme. This meant that while significant advance works were carried in the period 2017 to 2019, the main scheme is only now getting to construction decision stage. Under the public spending code, capital projects are subject to review and approval at a number of stages. As required under the project appraisal procedures, Limerick City and County Council has submitted a recommendation on the award of a contract for the construction of the scheme.

I am considering the project carefully at present and plan to visit Limerick shortly, probably early in the new year, to walk the route and engage directly with stakeholders. I will then make a decision on the council's contract award recommendation.

The other point the Deputy mentioned is a vital one in terms of improving the transport system for the people of Moyross and the wider Limerick area. As the Deputy stated, a rail line does go through the area, namely, the Limerick-Ennis-Galway rail line. The reason for my review and the consideration of this project in the wider context is that I believe it may be possible for us to put forward a truly radical proposal for the whole of Limerick city, including the construction of a public transport system on existing rail lines in Limerick which connect the city in a range of ways, with the introduction of a number of stations which would completely transform and lift the city into the future. We are in the middle of a consultation on the Limerick metropolitan area transport strategy and I believe it is absolutely appropriate for me, as Minister, to consider such radical proposals in favour of new public transport systems on existing rail lines which could, and to my mind should, include the provision of a new rail station and a regular commuter service for the people of Moyross. In that context, it is good transport planning and policy and housing and development policy to consider what implications such a radical change to the whole transport infrastructure in Limerick, and particularly the area of Moyross, would have in terms of what we do in all transport projects in the area.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply but I must take issue with it. He referred to delay of the project. There is €5 million allocated to the project for this year. There is no issue with funding here. This is an issue of sign-off from the Minister to allow this road project to go ahead. He stated it is now getting to construction decision stage. If he walks the route, he will see construction has already taken place from Coonagh Cross to the back of the shopping centre and that major capital works have already taken place to raise the level of the road in the area so that the road can go ahead.

Irish Rail already has an application in to the National Transport Authority and the Department of Transport to provide a rail station in Moyross. I fully agree with the Minister about rolling out rail services, but this road project and the provision of a rail link are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are complementary. If this road is not put in, it will be impossible to have a proper functioning rail service in terms of being able to access it.

Is the Minister suddenly going to allow Moyross to continue to be a cul-de-sac? One cannot drive into Moyross from the top end. For me, this project stands on its own merits. It is in the national development plan. It was committed to under the Fitzgerald report and by successive Governments. The Minister has been a member of some of those Governments. This project is about honouring our commitment and promise to the people of Moyross and the north side of the city. My view is that it is very simple. This project stands on its own. It has nothing to do with a proper rail network, which I fully accept is needed. In fact, this project will ensure that we can advance a proper rail network in the city and have a proper functioning train situation in Moyross, along with a park and ride system, to serve the people of Moyross but, equally, they should be able to access the top end of Moyross rather than it being a cul-de-sac. It is probably the biggest and longest cul-de-sac in Ireland and that is unacceptable. I hope the Minister commits today to look at the issue and agree to sign off on it and allow the project to proceed. It is not about funding; it is about approval from the Minister. I look forward to working with him overall on rail projects in Limerick city but he should not confuse the matter. These projects are not mutually exclusive. The Coonagh to Knockalisheen road project needs to get the go-ahead now.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I absolutely commit to working with the Deputy. Moyross cannot and will not be a cul-de-sac. We have to give its residents a world-class quality transport system that lifts the area and the whole of Limerick into the future. The Deputy stated that Irish Rail has submitted an application for a rail station in Moyross but in reality there was no such plan included in the first draft of the Limerick metropolitan area strategy for this suburban rail system for Limerick. I believe it has real merit. It is not just in the interests of the people of Moyross. Much of the advantage of this for Limerick is that there is existing rail system infrastructure, with numerous lines into the city which are under-utilised and which could transform the way the city works.

What I am trying to do as Minister for Transport, with the Government, is to see whether we can promote this new vision for how the whole of Limerick works. In particular, I believe it would have significant benefits for the people of Moyross as well as the people of Shannon. In the review of supports for Shannon Airport we committed to provide a suburban rail service from Shannon, through Moyross and into the centre of Limerick and then look to do something similar on the Foynes, Ballybrophy and Limerick Junction lines. I believe that when that works together as a whole it would completely change and improve the transport network for Limerick. It would serve the people of Moyross best if we were able to get agreement on that. I believe we may be able to do so in the very near future and I seek the Deputy's support in that regard. That means we have to get it right in Moyross. One has to consider what exactly that would imply in terms of how we then address the opening up of Moyross and the ending of its current cul-de-sac nature. It is good transport planning to get this right as an integrated whole.

As the Deputy stated, one project does not take from the other. However, one has to consider them together and that is what I am committing to do, along with the people in the community, the local councils and civic actors. Let us not miss this opportunity to set a future for transport in Limerick which is sustainable, social, economically beneficial and lifts the city. It would help to prevent development being vested in Dublin. Rather, development would start to be spread out in line with the national planning framework, particularly and most especially with the installation of the very best infrastructure in those areas that have been most left behind. I believe that would best serve the people of Moyross and that regeneration project which, as the Deputy stated, has been in train for 15 or 17 years. We need to get it absolutely right by putting the best transport infrastructure in place and that is what I hope to do.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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What about the-----

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Sorry, Deputy, we are moving on to the next matter.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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This is about opening up. The projects are not mutually exclusive. Time is being lost on this project. I hope the Minister will consider it for funding straight away.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Deputy will meet the Minister at a later stage to discuss the matter further. I know how important it is. I thank the Deputy and the Minister.