Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome back the former Cathaoirleach and now Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer. He is most welcome to Seanad Éireann and I thank him for being here today. I call Senator Duffy on the first of our Commencement matters today.

Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State back to the Seanad and thank him for making the time to discuss this issue with me.

Investment in road infrastructure in the areas I represent in Mayo has been underwhelming, to say the least. For the past three decades, we have been campaigning and advocating for investment for the upgrade of the N26. It is an incredibly busy roadway with thousands of motorists commuting on it every day, but it has had little or no investment over three decades. It is the gateway to the north west and connects Ballina to Foxford, on to Swinford and into the main arteries connecting to Dublin. It is one of the last remaining roadways in the country that has such a volume of traffic but has not received any investment. I ask the Minister of State to prioritise this matter and communicate with his departmental officials the imperative need for this road to be upgraded to a national standard for the sake of safety alone. The large number of HGVs, cars and buses that use this route every day are constantly in jeopardy because of the poor condition of the road. Similarly, the N58 connecting Foxford to Bellavary, which is the spine that interlinks the north and south of County Mayo, is in desperate condition and requires investment.

On a more local level, when I was sitting as a councillor in Mayo County Council three or four years ago, the local transport plans were rolled out. These were identified as the silver bullet to sort all improvements at a local level in communities and neighbourhoods in large towns. In Mayo, we had Westport, Castlebar and Ballina creating local transport plans. We were told these plans would be the bibles from which engineers would cherry-pick projects and deliver them. We have seen zero delivery on any of the projects identified under the local transport plans. Consultants have been paid and overpaid for their work and we still do not have projects.

A good example of expertise and consultant work regarding active and sustainable travel is the safe routes to school initiative. We have brilliant proposals under this model that would improve safety and connectivity for students and teachers travelling to and from school. Unfortunately, investment from the Department in these projects has been paltry, to say the least. This model for safe routes to school is supposed to be all encompassing and transformative in one go, not itty-bitty investments to keep people quiet. I ask the Minister of State that, when we invest in safe routes to school, we prioritise transformational projects that address a full school route and area in totality, not just as itty-bitty projects.

Last night and as we speak, traders and shopkeepers from the Ballina community have been meeting and continue to advocate and campaign for improvements in connectivity, the dire need for investment in an orbital route and improvements and changes to traffic flows within the town. The engineers on the ground need to move quickly but the TII needs to empower local decision-makers, councillors and the local community to allow us to act to improve the desperate traffic situation that plagues towns like Ballina and others in County Mayo with similar settings.We need to work with the people on the ground and we need to address these issues.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Thank you for your welcome. I thank Senator Duffy. As Minister of State, it is great to be here in Seanad Éireann, my second home, and thank you for the welcome.

I am taking the Commencement matter for Senator Duffy on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. I thank the Senator for raising the important matter of the upgrades of the N26 and N58 in Mayo. In total, approximately €411 million of Exchequer capital funding was provided for national roads through Transport Infrastructure Ireland to local authorities in 2024. That included approximately €23 million for national roads in Mayo. National road allocations for 2025 will be announced in the coming months.

I confirm that the N26 Foxford to Mount Falcon project received approval to progress the scheme to route option selection in July 2023. Following on from this, Mayo County Council prepared and tendered a brief for the provision of technical adviser services. The technical advisers were appointed in February 2024. A virtual public consultation was held between 13 November and 2 December 2024 to aid in the development of options. Work is continuing on the selection of assessment of potential options with an anticipated selection of a preferred route in late 2025. I agree with Senator Duffy regarding the N26 being the gateway to the north west. The Senator makes a good point on the importance of that route, the N26. It is important that we upgrade it to national standard and I thank the Senator for raising that matter.

The N58 Foxford transport project received scope and strategic assessment approval in March 2024. Following on from this, Mayo County Council prepared and tendered a brief for the provision of technical adviser services to carry out phases 1 to 4 of the TII project management guidelines. Tenders were returned in late 2024. Subject to the available funding, it is hoped to award the technical adviser contract and proceed with a feasibility study.

The current national framework for road safety is set out in the Government’s fifth Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030. In 2024, 18 people died on our roads in County Mayo. That is 18 too many, and an increase of seven on 2023. This year, to date, 24 people have died on our roads nationally. Two of these deaths have occurred in County Mayo. Every fatality is one too many, as I have said, which has an effect on families and communities.

The Senator raised the issue of connectivity and the meeting in Ballina last night and it is important we get that balance right.

As Members will be aware, a reduction in the speed limit for local, regional and rural roads came into effect on 7 February, reducing the default speed limits from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. TII and An Garda Síochána agreed the new locations for the roll-out of average speed camera zones will commence. One of these locations is on the N5 in Swinford, County Mayo. In addition, one new static safety camera, one of 12, was installed on the N17 at Claremorris.

Senator Duffy raised the issue of schools. The Safe Routes to School Programme was launched in March 2021 with the aim of supporting walking, scooting and cycling to primary and post-primary schools, and creating safer walking and cycling routes within communities, through the provision of infrastructure interventions. It is important that we continue collectively to alleviate congestion at school gates, with over €290 million being expended nationally by the Department of Transport for active travel measures and with €3 million being allocated to the county of Mayo.

It is important that we understand there is a need for a greater working relationship with local authorities and the Senator mentioned that in his contribution. I concur with the Senator regarding the local transport plans and working with each local authority. The regional spatial and economic strategy for the northern and western region sets out that the Northern and Western Regional Assembly will support the collaborative preparation of local transport plans. This work will be led by the local authorities in conjunction with the NTA and other stakeholders to prepare local transport plans for selected settlements, including Ballina and Castlebar. Furthermore, the NTA, in conjunction with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, has developed an advice note which sets out a methodology on how to assess the opportunities and constraints for sustainable transport within an area. This area-based transport assessment methodology has been designed as a key input into local transport plans.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter and congratulate him on his election to Seanad Éireann.

Mark Duffy (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I welcome the commitments for funding and prioritisation of the investment in both the N26 and N58. They need to be prioritised and kept on the table and we need a whole-of-Government approach to make sure that these are delivered as soon as possible.

More specifically, in respect of the local transport plan for Ballina, we need to see action, not bureaucracy and not consultant after consultant. Simple things, such as traffic lights needing to be replaced, took years to be delivered, causing frustration and backlogs within the town. Simple things, such as changing traffic flows and changing flows around the two bridges in the town and improvement in investment in infrastructure in orbital routes to improve congestion, need to be given proper attention and proper investment locally.

The €3 million investment in County Mayo is paltry compared with the €290 million invested across the country. The €3 million for Mayo is not enough. It is not good enough and needs to be improved drastically. We need transformative projects, transformative safe routes to school investment, so that each child, each student and each teacher who goes to school has a safe route and a safe corridor to connect him or her safely, not small measures to keep people quiet.

We need action and delivery in an ambitious way. I ask that the Minister of State prioritise this and make sure that we have action on these issues.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Duffy. He is right. Action is needed in terms of the simple asks such as changing traffic lights, traffic flow, orbital routes and easing congestion. It is not a mammoth ask and it should be done with ease.

With regard to new national road projects, there was a funding constraint in 2024 as the bulk of the €5.1 billion allocated for new roads becomes available in the second half of the decade. I hope we will see an exponential increase in spending. However, a number of new road projects listed in the NDP have already been completed. As the Senator knows quite well, these are the upgraded N5 Westport to Turlough project and the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge project which is under construction and will greatly improve accessibility for people in Mayo.

Protection and renewal of existing national roads is a priority for the Government. The majority of funding allocated for Mayo in 2024 was utilised for this purpose. This funding is used for junction improvements, pavement renewal, road safety improvements, maintenance of structures such as bridges and the progression of minor improvement projects. In addition, in line with the NDP and Government policy, the TII will allocate national road funding for 2025 in a manner which seeks to achieve a number of outcomes, namely, protection and renewal of the existing national road network, progressing major projects which are near construction and progressing major projects which are at an earlier stage of the development pipeline. As I said, the allocation of funding is due in the coming weeks.

The Government, including me, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is committed to road safety and to the target set out in the road safety strategy. Yesterday, we appointed a new chairperson of the RSA, Ms Anne Graham. We will see a new revamped RSA in the coming weeks and months. We are committed to achieving Vision Zero.

I will work with the Senator and with all Members of the House to ensure implementation of that the Safe Route to Schools Programme, which is important for rural Ireland and which comes under my area in the Department of Rural and Community Development in the context of rural transport, so that students, teachers and parents can access school in safety across County Mayo.