Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will share time with Senators Lombard and Conway.

I will be parochial and get straight to the point on the national development plan. I come from Longford and I have two major areas of concern with the NDP. It commits to a funding ratio of 2:1 for public transport versus road projects, which means there will be significantly less funding for roads projects over the next number of years.

I want to highlight the extension of the N4 from Mullingar through Longford towards Roosky and Leitrim. Many Members of this House and the Dáil are prioritising road projects in their local areas. I would ask them to look at a map of Ireland and our road infrastructure. We are seeking balanced regional investment across the regions. Members will be struck by the missing link on the map, namely, the road to Sligo and the entire north west. Significant funding of hundreds of millions of euro has been provided for works on the N5 from Castlebar to Longford and on the N4 between Sligo and Roosky and Leitrim. However, the missing link is the Mullingar to Roosky piece. This project went to preferred route stage in 2008 but was later removed from the national development plan. It was included again when Project Ireland 2040 was announced by the previous Government. The project is now at a stage of identifying, hopefully in January, a preferred route. I want to see it prioritised because the entire north west deserves to have the same infrastructure as the rest of the country.

As I said, the national routes run from Dublin to Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway but the north west is the missing link. That applies not only to County Longford but also counties Westmeath, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal. I ask that this project be kept at the top of the agenda? I will raise the matter in the House as regularly as I can for as long as I am a Member of this House. I want to see that road operational.

I will also point to another development in regard to the rail network which was identified in the NDP. This was a project to upgrade the Sligo line, but only as far as Mullingar. Longford town is probably the first commuter town for workers travelling to Dublin. With the advent of working from home, significant numbers of people have come back to Longford and bought houses to work from home and travel to Dublin on one or two days a week. We want to take cars off the road. The proposed investment in rail will only go as far as Mullingar whereas, as I said, the first commuter trains travelling to Dublin on that route start in Longford. That section of the route needs to be prioritised as well.

I thank the Minister of State for his time and ask him to bring the points I raised to government when these matters are being discussed. The most important point is that the N4 route must be the main priority for the Government with regard to roads funding.