Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to raise the issue of road safety in the town of Charleville, County Cork, a town that will be known to the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. This has been a major concern for a long time. Unfortunately, several people in the town have died while crossing the road there. I extend our deepest sympathies to those bereaved because of the tragic loss of people on the street in Charleville. The town is at the heart of Munster and is a very busy market town. Many people are employed around it and there is also great activity in it. It is on the N20 road between Cork and Limerick, so there is a phenomenal level of traffic going through the town daily.

I raise this issue of road safety in the context of ongoing developments concerning the advancement of the N20 and the motorway project. This must be prioritised and treated as an urgent issue. We understand and accept, though, the reality that completion of this project is some time away. In the meantime, road safety issues will have to be taken into account in Charleville. I have been working with Councillor Ian Doyle on this matter and he has a motion to discuss this issue before the northern committee of the county council next week as well.

I am trying to get across the real dangers concerning road safety issues in the town of Charleville. People are crossing the street and risking their lives daily, as has happened very recently. Representatives of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, the local authority and the Department of Transport must prioritise this matter to ensure remedial work is done immediately to try to alleviate these dangers and make sure addressing road safety issues in the town of Charleville is paramount.

As we wait for the bypass to be completed, the Department, the local authority and TII must consider an intermediary measure to try to develop some way to have heavy goods vehicles bypass the town centre. In the long term, this would also lead to the development of lands on the Limerick side of Charleville. For those people driving from Cork to Limerick, it would be on the right-hand side of the town. I refer to examining the possibility of putting in a link or relief road. The roads are getting busier and economic activity in the town and along the route to it is increasing with every passing day. While the priority is to ensure the bypass happens, in the meantime we must also ensure measures are taken to protect people's lives and improve road safety in Charleville.

The frightening thing about this is that people there are losing their lives. The N20 is probably one of the most dangerous routes in the country at this stage. It is a serious issue. We want the Minister, the Department of Transport, TII and the local authority to collaborate to find a solution in the short term that will ensure road safety issues are addressed and people are able to go about their business in Charleville while being assured of their safety. This means the immediate installation of a relief or link road on the right-hand side of the town, as people are going from Cork to Limerick. I ask this because we will be waiting for five years, and possibly more, for the major infrastructure in the shape of the bypass to happen. I ask the Minister of State to take this issue back to the Department as a matter of urgency. Many issues are raised here but this is one of life and death and concerns a situation where people have lost their lives on the streets of Charleville. There are very few other towns in the country we could say that about.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Michael Moynihan for raising this important issue, which I am answering on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who unfortunately is unable to attend.

The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding for the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TIl, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Ultimately, TII delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the NDP.

Approximately €491 million of Exchequer capital funds have been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2023. These allocations were announced by the Department of Transport and TIl on 16 February 2023. A major priority in the NDP, in line with the Department’s investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road network. The NDP foresees an Exchequer allocation of approximately €2.9 billion for the protection and renewal of existing national roads over the ten years to 2030, allocated fairly evenly across the decade.

Each year, TIl carries out a collision analysis of the entire national road network. The purpose of this exercise is to identify locations that have high concentrations of collisions. It does not, however, include the subsequent process to devise proposals to identify road safety interventions. This is the responsibility of the relevant local authority, as the road authority for the area in the first instance. Regarding safety issues in Charleville, a high collision location was identified through the network safety analysis undertaken in 2019, and this information was forwarded to Cork County Council for its consideration. TII is aware that the county council is considering improvements at two locations in Charleville, at the New Line junction and the filling station at the southern end of the town. TIl is committed to working with the county council to see what safety measures can be identified in the short term to improve road safety in Charleville.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the reply. The two last paragraphs in the script were the important ones. TII identified a high collision location in the town through the network safety analysis undertaken in 2019. This is not just about collisions, but about life and death. People are losing their lives on the main street in Charleville. I do not want to exaggerate the issue, but it has happened and is happening. We must ensure urgency is brought to bear on this issue.

Can we get representatives of TII and the local authority together as a matter of extreme urgency to resolve this issue and to try to make Charleville safer in the short term, as well as to examine a medium-term solution for the town? This approach can be twofold. It can address further development in Charleville in the longer term, as well as the short-term priority of a solution to try to resolve the current issues. I ask that TII, the Department and Cork County Council meet urgently. Will the Minister of State ask the Minister for Transport to organise this meeting urgently?

As public representatives, we can input into this matter. It is greatly important, however, that this matter is addressed with serious urgency. Does the Minister of State have information regarding ongoing discussions between TII and Cork County Council? If so, I ask him to make any such information available to me, which I would appreciate. If he does not have the information to hand, I ask him if he could make it available to us as a matter of urgency. Councillor Ian Doyle and I have been working on this issue and it is an urgent priority. We need a short- and medium-term solution to this matter. The long-term solution will come with the bypass in time to come.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Michael Moynihan clearly articulated in his response the importance of these improvement works and, indeed, the State's obligation to ensure the safety of our road network is up to specification to ensure we mitigate any collisions and have adequate safety processes in place. I will raise the Deputy's concerns with the Minister for Transport and ask that TII provide an update concerning its discussions with Cork County Council.

I understand the priority and urgency attached to it because it is important in our road network that we protect life and ensure the infrastructure is up-to-date and as safe as possible. I will undertake to revert to the Minister for Transport on the Deputy's behalf.