Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson for his courtesy, as usual, in giving me the floor on this issue. I am delighted it is being taken by my friend, the Minister of State, Senator Hackett. Coming from Mayo originally, I am sure she is familiar with the N5 route. We all know what has happened with that project. Unfortunately, the contractors who were to construct the bypass from Scramogue to Ballaghaderreen have run into difficulties. I have spoken about this on many occasions in the Seanad and previously in the Dáil. The contract is now off and that puts the focus back on the existing route. It is a very dangerous one on which there have been a large number of accidents and fatalities over many years. It is disappointing for the people living along the route that the new bypass is not going ahead. They have lived with the terrible experience of having to deal with horrific accidents on the road morning, noon and night over the past 40 years. It is not an exaggeration to say that when one looks back over those 40 years. In excess of 30 people have been killed on the road and 60 to 70 have been injured. It has been a nightmare for the people who live along the route.

We now have a hold-up on the construction of the bypass. I am very confident the Government is committed to the project and that the situation will sort itself out in time. However, it is important that we focus again on the issue of safety. In the time remaining to me, I will outline the problems along the route for the Minister of State. Scramogue Cross is a massive crossroads that requires further upgrading. In Strokestown, there is a Centra as one goes into the town, at the turn near the old football pitch. There have been numerous crashes there over the years. I acknowledge that Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, formerly the National Roads Authority, has carried out quite a lot of work there. There are also problems in Lisryan, which is on the far side of Strokestown. Tulsk village, which is a very elongated village with a school, community centre, church and some businesses, is also experiencing problems. Traffic goes through it at an enormous speed. The situation in Bellanagare may not be as dangerous but there are concerns about the volume of traffic going through it. In Frenchpark, there is an appalling scenario in terms of accidents. One occurred there recently involving a school bus. There has been a litany of accidents in that village.

We have seen some movement by TII in response to all the representations that have been made by a large number of politicians. In fairness to all my colleagues, whatever party they are in, there have been requests to upgrade the crossroads in Frenchpark village and the route on to Ballaghaderreen. We really need to focus now on advancing this project and money must be ring-fenced to ensure improvements are carried out. As a result of the hold-up, even at the greatest speed at which it can now be done, it will be four or five years before the bypass is completed. We must concentrate on safety issues. It would not take a huge amount of money to make improvements in that regard and it must be done. There are schools, churches and community centres along the route. Farmers have to do their business along the road, taking cattle to different lands and so on. They are really concerned about it because there is a threat every time they go out on the road. I know this issue is not part of the Minister of State's portfolio and I appreciate her taking it. I ask that she take the message back that TII needs to put extra effort into dealing with safety measures along this route.