Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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24. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress on the southern distributor route, the new ring road for Athy; the work ongoing in his Department on the project; the timeframe for the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42156/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads, such as the Athy Distributor Road, is the statutory responsibility of Kildare County Council, in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993.  

The Capital Plan 2016-2021 provides that a number of schemes, including the Athy Distributor Road, targeting bottlenecks in the road network will be progressed subject to necessary approvals. In this context the project has to meet the requirements of the Public Spending Code and my Department's Common Appraisal Framework for Transport Projects as well as obtaining CPO and development approval from An Bord Pleanála.  It is a matter for Kildare County Council to progress the scheme through the approval process. 

The Business Case for the Athy project was submitted to my Department in December 2016.  Following a review of this Business Case by my Department and by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service Unit (IGEES), approval was given in April 2017 to submit the project to An Bord Pleanála for consideration.  A decision is awaited from An Bord Pleanála.