Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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296. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update of the route selection and a commencement date for works on the Northern Distributor Road, Cork city. [30038/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Given the multi-modal nature of the project and its importance in the integrated Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has recently been designated as the Approving Authority for the Cork Northern Distributor Multi-Modal Route. The NTA has received, and is currently reviewing, the Strategic Assessment Report (SAR) provided by Cork City Council for this project.  The SAR sets out the specific rationale for the project and is the first approval step in the Public Spending Code for any major transport scheme. 

As the cost of this project will be over €100 million, the Public Spending Code requires that the SAR is subject to a review by Department of Public Expenditure & Reform, following completion of an initial evaluation of the document by the NTA. It will also be submitted to the Minister for Transport for approval. 

The evaluation process for the SAR will take a number of months, following which a determination on the document will be issued to the City Council by the NTA.