Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2015
911. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to upgrade the N28 road as part of an expansion of Cork Port, which has the support of the two local authorities, local industry and businesses, and other institutions, as a vital project in supporting local recovery. [28241/15]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual road projects such as the N28 is a matter for the National Roads Authority (NRA) under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Due to the major cutbacks in Exchequer funding for roads, priority has had to be given to the maintenance and upkeep of existing infrastructure rather than new projects. The capital allocations proposed for my Department in 2016 and 2017 indicate that the NRA will be continuing to operate within a very constrained budget for the next number of years. The scope for any new improvement projects will depend on the availability of additional capital funding in the future.
