Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 June 2015
3. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is satisfied the route proposed for the M7 upgrade in County Kildare is the most beneficial and cost effective; the timescale as to when the upgrade will be completed; the public consultation which has taken place to date on the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23837/15]
View answerThis relates to the upgrade of the M7 Naas to Newbridge bypass upgrade scheme. Is the only impediment funding? What priority does it have?
I must point out again that, while I have responsibility for overall policy and funding for the national roads programme, the construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads are matters for the National Roads Authority, NRA, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. I understand the proposed M7 Naas bypass widening scheme which follows the alignment of the motorway has been progressed in compliance with the NRA's project management guidelines. Kildare County Council advertised the scheme in local and national newspapers and a public consultation process began and was left on open display for two weeks. An Bord Pleanála approved the scheme in August 2014 after an oral hearing.
Unfortunately, the financial realities are that capital funding will continue to be tight for the next number of years, limiting the scope for progressing additional new projects over and above the PPP schemes already in place. I know that it is important to restore capital funding for the transport sector over time, to ensure land transport infrastructure is maintained and renewed to support economic development. While I have, I hope, stabilised the funding position, the scope for new projects depends on the availability of additional capital funding in the future. Once that is clear to me, the Government will publish a plan to address particular bottlenecks and challenges within the country.
I am looking to find out when it will be clear to the Minister. This is local to County Kildare, but it is also a national primary route. There are three lanes to the point where it narrows, where there is a significant bottleneck and a high number of accidents. Many years ago cost-benefit analyses were carried out which looked at fatality rates. Accident rates were also factored in. I would hate to think that is the reason a scheme will have a higher priority when we can already predict a significant problem. The functioning of the economy will be dependent on the ability to manufacture and deliver goods and services. This is one of the most densely populated parts of the country and the route is the artery between Dublin and two of our major cities. I would like to know where the scheme stands in the list of priorities.
I agree with the Deputy that the maintenance and, where necessary, the creation of good national roads are crucial to how the economy moves and our ability to move goods and services throughout the country. It is also crucial to make sure the national finances continue to improve and that if we commit to a project, we have the ability to fund it. The Deputy will be aware that a condition of the planning permission granted for the millennium business park was that an interchange be built at Osberstown. If that scheme was executed in isolation, the consequence would be an addition of 8% to the volume of traffic on the M7 motorway, which is already operating at a very high level of capacity and exceptionally busy. To deal with this issue in a comprehensive way, we need to deliver a number of projects in the area, including widening the road at Naas, funding the interchange and carrying out work at Sallins. The total cost of all these projects is €110 million. We can only commit to a project if we are confident that we can fund it. The group of projects has a high priority, but in order for it to go ahead, I have to be confident that I can fund it and that the State will be in a position to afford it in the future
I agree with the Minister that the projects are linked. The problem is that, in the absence of being able to get traffic to and from the park and providing entry and exit points for developments such as the big new development of the Kerry Group, the millennium business park is stuck in an environment in which it was never planned to be in. It is very well located, which is why the Kerry Group development took place there, but it is being constrained in expansion because of this impediment. While a very large amount of money is involved, it has the potential to bring about a decent return also.
The Deputy acknowledges that this is a very significant amount of money from the taxpayer. It is easily comparable to, if not greater than, the private sector investment put into the millennium business park and the surrounding area. It is receiving priority for the future, provided funding is available, because of how busy the existing roads in the area, in particular the M7, are and because access to the millennium business park will become extremely difficult if we do not find a way to alleviate the problem. That is why this group of projects has been proposed. My challenge is to ensure the total amount of money, in excess of €100 million, can be secured to support the investment and job creation under way, but we can only go ahead with the scheme if we have the money and can be sure money will be available in the future. Otherwise we risk repeating the mistakes which have cost us so dear already.
