Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan. I would like to thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter. I know the Minister of State is familiar with Connemara and the N59. I am sure he has driven it on numerous occasions going out to Clifden or elsewhere in Connemara. Over the past couple of years we have seen huge improvement on that road. First of all, on the surface and, secondly, on some realignment of the sections between Bunnakill and Maam Cross, which started in late 2019 and was complete last year. That is a very welcome development for a road that had a very low level of overtaking opportunities. There has been a huge improvement on that section of road.

There is also work at the moment on the Maigh Cuilinn bypass, and again, that is very welcome. Some €23 million has been allocated this year for that bypass which will benefit Maigh Cuilinn but also all areas past that, such as Rosscahill, Oughterard, Recess and beyond. I welcome the allocation of funding for the N59 from Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TFI.

There is also funding for continuation of purchase of land between Maam Cross and Oughterard. There is some €700,000 allocated this year. There was some surprise and disappointment that there was no allocation of funding for the continuation of the planning for an upgrade of the road between Maam Cross and Clifden. This is an existing road; this is a realignment. This is not a new road; this would be a realignment of the existing road to improve safety for all road users and to bring it to a level similar to that which was achieved between Bunnakill and Maam Cross. However, TFI has not allocated funding and it has stated to the county council that is because of the structuring of the national development plan, NDP, which puts an emphasis on other transport projects in the first five years and allocates the majority of funding for new road projects between 2026 and 2030. This is having an impact on the preparatory work. There are issues in the Minister of State's own area, between Mullingar and Longford, and the road towards Sligo-Leitrim as well.

As the Minister of State knows, it takes a long number of years to get to a stage where diggers and machinery can be moved in to build a road. There is a lot of preparatory work required. Certainly, in an area that is as environmentally sensitive as Connemara, it takes even longer in terms of the number of environmental reports and necessary appropriate assessments and the like that are required. The council acknowledged that.That is why they need a sufficiently long period of time to allow for the preparation of the planning application and all the reports that are necessary to bring that road project forward.

The director of services in Galway County Council has said to me that, with the best will in the world and if money was not an issue, it would still be five or six years before machinery could roll in and carry out improvement works between Clifden and Maam Cross. However, now Transport Infrastructure Ireland is not providing money to allow that preparatory work to take place, so when the money becomes available, it will have to start again from scratch and do all the environmental reports and everything else that is necessary, and that will take four, five or six years. It is not proper planning nor forward thinking on a project that people assumed would go ahead, would be a continuation of the improvement works that have taken place, and would be beneficial to the residents in Connemara and visitors alike.