Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, back again. He has a busy agenda this morning in the Seanad.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I sure do.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach ar maidin. The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. This is my first opportunity to have a dialogue with him in an official capacity in this Chamber. I wish him well and I have no doubt that he will make a great success of the role he finds himself in.

I would like to talk to the Minister of State about the stretch of roadway between Castleblayney and Ardee that forms part of the N2, which is the main Dublin to Derry road. Unfortunately, this particular stretch of roadway is infamous for a high collision rate. Sections of the road have been classified as having twice the expected collision rate so, unfortunately, the death toll is alarming and heartbreaking. There have been 17 fatal collisions on this stretch of roadway in the past ten years and 24 fatalities in the past 18 years. Behind those statistics lie broken lives and families left with so much grief and a lifetime of heartache. As the traffic volumes continue to grow, the chances of more accidents on this stretch of roadway grow with it.

The community is quite frustrated, to put it mildly, with the lack of progress on plans to upgrade this stretch of roadway. In 2018, a process was undertaken to do design work with a view to realigning this particular roadway to make it safer. The ideal scenario is to have a four lane dual carriageway because, as we know, a dual carriageway is three times safer than a single carriageway. Apart from the safety element of this matter, there is a cross-Border element, that is, North-South connectivity. It would mean a quicker and more planned route for those travelling from Donegal or Derry towards Dublin.

On the land take, which is quite significant, I pay tribute to the local community who have stepped up to the plate. As a result of this new projected roadway, seven family homes will have to be demolished, and one commercial building and 17 farm buildings will have to be removed. For the people concerned, such measures bring a great deal of stress and annoyance. What is compounding this is the fact there has been so little progress on moving this particular stretch of roadway on.

The process began back in 2018 and a preferred route corridor was published in 2021. So far, Monaghan County Council, through Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has spent somewhere in the region of €5.5 million on this piece of roadway. Last year, the local authority sought additional funding of between €900,000 and €1 million to complete phase 3 of the process but, unfortunately, the funding was not forthcoming. l understand that allocations are being considered and an announcement is expected in the coming weeks. It is essential that this piece of roadway is included for funding. In the overall scheme of things, €900,000 does not seem to be an awful lot of money.

It is vitally important we make a statement that this Government takes road safety very seriously, and that it is serious about this piece of roadway, which is notorious for a high accident rate, by allocating €900,000 to allow the phase 3 process to be completed so that we can move on to phase 4.

I look forward to hearing the response of the Minister of State and hope that my contribution has not fallen on deaf ears.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Acting Chair on her nomination to the Seanad. Comhghairdeas leat. I also congratulate Senator Gallagher on his re-election and look forward to working with him in a different capacity. We always had a good working relationship under the confidence and supply arrangement and in government, which I hope continues.

I thank the Senator for raising the important matter of the N2. As he said, it is a road that has a high accident rate. The number of fatalities is incredible. As he said, people have lost their lives and families are without their loved ones.

As a Minister of State in the Department of Transport, with the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, we have responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in respect of the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads, as the Senator will know, is a matter for TIl but in conjunction with local authorities which in the Senator's case is Monaghan County Council. TII will continue to deliver road projects under the national roads programme, in line with the national planning framework and the NDP.

The Senator raised the issue of the N2 from Ardee to Castleblayney. As he rightly said, this project is about connectivity, enhancing local and regional accessibility and improving connectivity between Dublin, Monaghan and the north west, which would enable improved connectivity for businesses and deliver road safety improvements for all road users. A preferred route option has been selected and the scheme is in the design and environmental evaluation phase, after which a preliminary business case for the project would be submitted to the Department.

The Government, as a whole, has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national road projects from 2021 to 2030, as part of the national development plan. This funding will enable improved regional accessibility across the country as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic outcomes. The funding will provide for the development of numerous national road projects, including the construction and completion of projects, which are already at construction stage, and those close to it as well as the development of a number of others.

A major priority in the NDP, in line with the Department's investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road network. The NDP foresees an Exchequer allocation of around €2.9 billion for the protection and renewal of existing national roads over the ten-year period to 2030, allocated fairly evenly across the decade. This includes funding for minor improvement projects, safety schemes, such as junction upgrades and road realignment, and pavement renewal. As the Senator rightly said, the N2 certainly fits into that category given the level of collisions and fatalities.

In the latter half of this decade, more of the funding in the NDP will become available. Last year, €411 million of Exchequer capital funding was provided to the TII. As the Senator rightly said, funding constraints meant there was no funding made available last year for the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney project. However, it is a very central part of the NDP and I am sure his advocacy this morning will not fall on deaf ears. As such, the delivery programme for the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney scheme will be kept under review for 2025 and will be considered in terms of the overall funding envelope available to Transport Infrastructure Ireland.The allocations for this year will be announced in the coming weeks. Given that it will cost less than €1 million and it is a priority in terms of cross-Border connectivity but it is also about the enhancement of road safety in tandem with the Government road strategy of reducing accidents on the road, I will make a case for the Senator and with him regarding this project. I thank him for raising the matter this morning. It is an important project for very good reasons. I will bring his remarks back to the Minister and the Department.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. As he said, this particular section of road has been in the national development plan for a number of years. In excess of €5.5 million has been spent on the different phases since 2018. There is a concern that some of the surveys that were carried out in conjunction with this have a shelf life and unless this project is moved on, that funding will be lost because the surveys will be outdated. It is important that this funding is found. It is only in the region of €900,000. If we and this Government are serious about road safety then it is absolutely essential that this road gets funding. Hopefully, when the announcement is made in the coming weeks, the €900,000 needed to progress it to the next phase will be in that allocation.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I take the Senator's point regarding the project being moved forward and the issue of surveys being undertaken. As Members will be aware, due to the outlined funding constraints for national roads, a prioritisation exercise was deemed necessary in line with the NDP and Government policy. The Minister for Transport has allocated for national roads in a manner that seeks to achieve a number of outcomes, namely, the protection and renewal of the existing road network, progressing major projects under construction, progressing major projects that are pre-construction but well advanced in the development pipeline, and prioritising any remaining funds for major projects that provide for local bypasses and compact growth in Ireland's towns and villages. As the Senator will be aware, more than €36 million has been allocated by the Government to road projects in County Monaghan since 2020. This funds the protection and renewal of the existing road network as well as national road projects such as the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney project. The Government is committed under its programme for Government to enhance connectivity across urban and rural roads, to investing in diverse traffic options, including roads, and to investing in all road projects in the current national development plan. I will take the Senator's remarks back to the Minister, particularly those around the area of the surveys being undertaken and the amount that the local authority has spent on the road, which makes the case that we should progress with the road. I thank the Senator for raising the matter.