Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for coming in to address this absolutely crucial piece of strategic infrastructure for County Wexford, one of the single biggest projects that the county needs in order to capitalise on its potential. I am aware that the Minister of State will be visiting south Wexford tomorrow. I look forward to welcoming him to Lady's Island. He will travel the same road on which I am looking to get an update on today. I refer to the need for the Oylegate to Rosslare motorway to be delivered and developed. I am seeking an update on that. At the moment, the road travels the whole way from Larne in Northern Ireland all the way down to the little village of Oylegate. Any traffic that is heading to Rosslare Europort must travel through the village of Oylegate, around the Wexford ring road, into Drinagh, down then to Killinick, to Tagoat and on then to Rosslare Harbour.

As a result of Brexit, we have seen a €230 million investment into Rosslare Europort. I was there with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, only a few days ago. The reality for the people living in that area is that the harbour having gone from 20 sailings a week to now close to 75 sailings a week means the volume of traffic making its way to the port is now directly affecting the lives of all those residents living in that area. The infrastructure has not followed and there is quite a lot of frustration that, due to the court case relating to the Galway ring road and the knock-on impact of that judgment on requiring active-travel considerations, this had added over a year extra to the time it will take to deliver the motorway. A preferred route has been selected for the motorway. Will the Minister of State provide an update on where things currently stand in relation to the motorway and the commitment from the Government for funding this project beyond the planning stage? When we finally get through the planning stage, is the commitment there from Government to put the money in place to go to tender, CPO and construction?