Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he and the National Roads Authority will clarify the uncertainty in relation to the M20 County Cork to County Limerick motorway project as it has added to the delay with the N21 Adare bypass that was recently refused planning permission by an Bord Pleanála and is a major blow to business and tourism in County Kerry; if his attention has been drawn to the impact the major bottleneck of traffic in Adare is having on tourism and job creation in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48730/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The decision of An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for the Adare by-pass is regrettable.  While we do not currently have the funding to the construct the by-pass I would have liked to have seen the project brought to ‘shovel-ready’ stage.  It will now be necessary to consider alternative options for Adare.

As Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme.  The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects is a matter for the National Roads Authority (NRA) under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.

The NRA will be working within a very restricted budget for the next number of years. These funding constraints mean that it will not be possible to progress a range of worthwhile projects for now. In the case of the M20 project,  had An Bord Pleanála approved the scheme, the NRA/Local Authorities concerned would have been required to exercise the CPO authorisation within 18 months or the approval would lapse.  The land costs involved would have been very significant.  For this reason I considered it prudent to stop the process prior to that happening rather than tie up so much capital in land acquisition at the expense of road maintenance and minor improvements.  The project has not, however, been abandoned but deferred in the light of the current circumstances.  When the financial position improves the NRA will re-examine the position in relation to this, and other worthwhile projects.

For now NRA will have to work within its capital budget and assess and prioritise projects within that funding envelope. In this context I have referred the issue of the NRA response to an Bord Pleanála's decision on the Adare bypass to the NRA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you don’t receive a reply within 10 working days