Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank him for coming to the House to deal with this Commencement matter. It is brief. I am raising this issue on behalf of public representatives in Athy, County Kildare. I have some claim to fame there in that my family is originally from there and is in business and in the commercial life of the town itself in Duke Street. I know it well. As I am there on a weekly basis, I am very familiar with County Kildare and with Athy in particular. It was once a very successful market town and a particularly attractive town. It is served by wonderful public transport because there is a train service there. It is a town that from the 1960s right up to the present has seen a diminishing of employment and economic activity. However, it has great prospects being so near to Dublin and there is a great potential future in respect of the provision for the Athy ring road. My understanding is that An Bord Pleanála has now given the go-ahead. There were planning issues and difficulties but they have been resolved. Kildare County Council is keen to get on with this project. People want to see this road put in as quickly as possible, subject to the available finances. They want to know where this project is on the priority list for the Minister's capital programme in the context of the town's renewal and revitalisation and in respect of capitalising on its potential. It is an important hub for people doing business and living there and it has good transport connections. We are trying to find out what is the status of the ring road in the grand scheme of things and what sort of funding has been identified. Where is the priority in getting this initiative and this road up and running?