Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not going to mention the budget as I will speak on that later, and I am not going to speak to a national issue. I want to speak to a local issue. I apologise for that because it is probably very small in the overall scheme of things.

Rooskey is a village near me.It is in the parish of Kilglass, which was the home of the former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds. It is a lovely village and a great community but we have one huge problem, which is that a pedestrian or cyclist cannot cross the bridge if there are two vehicles on it. Roosky was the site of the Glanbia factory in which almost 600 people worked but, unfortunately, it was destroyed by a fire in 1997 or 1998. All the hope of getting a new bridge dissipated then and it will not happen now because that business is gone. However, we have come up with the idea of building a footbridge across the River Shannon, which would make the crossing safe for pedestrians and cyclists. Will the Leader make a request in this regard to the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan? I understand such a project would be dealt with by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and I ask that it be treated as a matter of urgency. I understand Leitrim County Council has made an application for funding under the active travel programme but we need to get a report done on it and get it done as quickly as possible in the interest of safety. It is a health and safety issue. I appreciate the Leader, the Cathaoirleach and Members listening to me going on about something parochial like this.