Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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B’fhéidir go mbeidh an Teachta in ann píosa ama a shábháil dom. Táimid taobh thiar den am.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Beidh sé deacair. Mar is eol don Leas-Cheann Comhairle, tá an obair seo ag teastáil go práinneach ar an mbóthar seo agus caithfidh mé cás láidir a dhéanamh.

The N59, as a coastal national secondary route, was included in Transport 21. The idea was that those parts of the country that were far away from national primary routes would have decent national secondary routes to service them. There are 113 km of N59 in Galway – 80 km from Galway to Clifden and 33 km from Clifden to Leenane. Priority was given to the section from Galway to Clifden. Ten years ago, planning permission was given to upgrade the N59 from Oughterard to Maam Cross, but there was a condition on the planning permission, namely, that method statements had to be agreed with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, which is part of the Minister of State's Department and not an independent agency. There was a stand-off over these method statements for years. Eventually, agreement was given to do a section of the road from Bunnakill to Maam Cross, which was completed in 2021.

Based on the success of that upgrade of the road – anyone who travels it knows how safe the new section of road is compared with the other section, which is highly dangerous – method statements were submitted to the Department in December 2021. The method statement in respect of the topographical survey was confirmed in July 2022.

However, further questions were raised regarding the ground investigations and archaeological investigation, and further information was provided in September 2022. Now we have a situation where these statements were provided to the Minister of State's Department in September of last year. We are now in the middle of April. There seems to be an inordinate delay in making decisions, and it is not as if we do not have a working model for how to ensure there is no leachate into the groundwater, the lakes or the rivers, irrespective of weather.

In the meantime, the land for the two-thirds of the road left to be done has been purchased and fenced by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII. As I have said, this road is very deficient and is a danger to people who have to travel it frequently, or to those who use it for going on their holidays, or whatever other purpose they have for going to that part of Connemara. It is also deficient for buses, and again we need more buses on that particular route. The question I am asking the Minister of State is quite simple. Can he outline, in detail, what work has been done since September 2022? Why is there such a delay in deciding a method statement, and when will a decision be made so that this road can proceed to development, either in two sections or one? I understand that the idea is to do the next section from Bunnakill a third of the way in to Oughterard, and the final third again.

The Minister of State might be very explicit in giving me this detailed information, because it looks as if the Department is, once again, sitting on development in Connemara.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, agus go raibh maith ag an Teachta Ó Cuív. The Deputy will be aware that the staff of the NPWS has been working closely with Galway County Council on this project. The development of the Oughterard to Maam Cross section was approved by An Bord Pleanála, as the Deputy said, in December 2013. A condition of the consent was that prior to the commencement of the construction, the construction stage erosion and sediment control plan, and all method statements, would be finalised by the construction stage contractor, and would be subject to the approval of Galway County Council and the agreement of the NPWS and Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI.

In July 2022, a method statement was prepared by Galway County Council, which outlined the methodology for a topographical survey along the N59 Bun an Choill to Oughterard as part of the overall N59 Maam Cross to Oughterard project, and which was approved. Further method statements, one relating to ground investigation and a second relating to archaeological investigations, were submitted in September 2022. These are being considered now by the NPWS.

This is a complex case in a designated area, namely the Lough Corrib special area of conservation, SAC, which comprises 24 separate qualifying interests, including a number of priority habitats and European protected species as set out in the habitats directive. To ensure a proper outcome to process the development, and a review and improvement of method statements, great care is being exercised. Advices are being sought regarding a number of technical, scientific and administrative matters to inform full and due consideration of the matter, as is warranted.

I appreciate the Deputy's and the local community's desire to see the project progressed, but he will appreciate that we need to tread carefully on this, given the environmental sensitivities. I assure him that officials from the NPWS are working on the issue as a priority. I will ensure they continue to do that, and revert to Galway County Council as soon as possible.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The reply is very weak. The reality is they have been working on this for ten years. Prior to approving the Bun an Choill section, the original plan was to do the whole road. There were a lot of discussions, and ongoing discussions. I was over in the Department myself in the intervening years regarding method statements. It is not yesterday or today that this issue arose.

The second issue that should be understood is that - and this is the irony of it - if the road was built to the modern standards, with settlement pools to prevent the run-off of the road going directly into the streams, it would be much better for the ecology. That is not at issue. Everyone knows that a well-designed, modern road is way better in terms of leachate from the road into the streams than a badly-designed, traditional road that we have in Connemara.

The issue resolves around a simple matter, and that is, whether the road can be built, taking unexpected weather events into account, without some damage being caused in the actual building of the road due to the weather. It was for that reason that the Bun an Choill section to Maam Cross was allowed to go ahead. There were qualifying interests there, but they were not so severe as in the second section of the road, so that was granted. It was felt that it would become the test case to see if it could be ensured no leachate would get into the water bodies, taking into account all the kind of Connemara weather that we get - and there were dry and very wet periods during the construction of the road. Travelling the new section of road, you will see water on all sides of it. That, according to my understanding, was very successful.

Can the Minister of State be a lot more explicit, either today or by sending it to me in writing, on exactly what work has been done since September 2022 to date, and why it has been delayed so far? Who has the technical advice been sought from? When was it sought? Why was it not sought before that?

Finally, like the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2021, "as soon as possible" is becoming a sick joke in this House.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Táimid thar am, a Theachta. An tAire Stáit anois-----

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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"As soon as possible" means it is on the méar fhada, agus ní fios cén uair a gheofar freagra. Táimid ag iarraidh cinnidh, nó dáta faoina mbeidh cinneadh againn.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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If it is of use to the Deputy, we might provide a more detailed briefing for him. I cannot give him the full response regarding the information he is seeking from me this morning but it might be useful to give him a detailed briefing by NPWS staff regarding the project, and that might be of assistance in providing where we are on the timeline.

Regarding the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2021, we are progressing it, and it is on the Order Paper. I hope we will make progress on that this year.