Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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212. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the current status of the proposed East-West Dundalk-to-Sligo route corridor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1029/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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213. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the capital allocated provided and expended on sections of the East-West Dundalk-to-Sligo route corridor since 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1030/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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214. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the capital allocation that has been earmarked for the East-West Dundalk-to-Sligo route corridor for 2025 and upcoming years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1031/25]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My department has been working with Cavan and Louth County Councils in relation to funding projects associated with the proposed upgraded East West Link Road. As the Deputy is aware the proposed scheme would run on regional routes from Dundalk to Cavan and national routes from Cavan to Sligo.

Going back some time there was a proposal for a substantial upgrade of the regional road part of the route; my department provided over €2 million to Cavan County Council, acting as lead authority with Monaghan and Louth County Councils, to progress the regional road element of the project to preliminary design stage.

However, more recent appraisal work has indicated a very substantial cost if the road scheme was fully implemented. As such, my department engaged Cavan County Council to carry out a risk-based analysis for the route between Dundalk and Cavan. This analysis explored the possibility of a series of interventions which could be implemented over time, and which could improve safety, journey times, and bring consistency to the travel speed along the route. From this risk analysis individual local authorities examined if, and how, projects identified could be brought forward, while taking into account their own priorities and available resources.

My department allocated funding to both Cavan and Louth County Councils to carry out initial assessments of two possible schemes along the R178 Cavan to Dundalk Strategic Regional Route. Subsequently, both Louth and Cavan County Councils submitted Strategic Assessment Reports for these two schemes. These submissions have been reviewed and approval has been provided to advance both schemes. My department provided further funding in 2024 to both Cavan County Council and Louth County Council to advance these schemes through to the end of Phase 2 “Route Selection” (see TII Project Management Guidelines, 3.3 Overview of Project Phases). This process is underway by the local authorities and following completion, a further review of both schemes will be examined by my department before approval to the next phase.

Grant allocations for 2025 will be notified to local authorities in the coming weeks.

Please see below tables with the requested records of funds.