Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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1043. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason the plans for the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway were withdrawn in 2012; the effect of this withdrawal on the overall estimated timeframe for this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33893/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​As Minister for Transport I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads is a statutory matter for the Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.

My understanding is that the reason for the decision to withdraw the M20 project from An Bord Pleanála (ABP) during the financial crisis was that, had ABP approved the project, this would have triggered a substantial financial commitment arising from the requirement to purchase land for the project within a limited timeframe.  Given the financial circumstances at the time, this cost would have had to be incurred without the reasonable prospect of the project proceeding to construction stage quickly.

As the Deputy is aware, the Capital Plan published in September 2015 outlined proposed transport investment priorities to 2022. While the transport element of the Capital Plan did provide for some targeted investment in a number of new projects in the Munster region, it was not possible to include the M20 in the Capital Plan as the scale of investment required to deliver it was not affordable.  

I am conscious of the potential regional development benefits of an upgrade of the Cork to Limerick link and in this regard I agreed to TII spending €1 million to undertake some early activity surveys/studies. I will review the scope for progressing the project further once the Capital Plan Review is completed.