Road Projects

Thursday, 30 November 2023

Questions (7)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

7. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Transport if he will commit to progressing the N22 Farranfore to Lissivigeen and Killarney bypass project at the earliest possible date; if he recognises the need for this project to enhance the south-west economic corridor from Tralee to Cork; if he is aware of the loss of life and serious injury on this section of road in recent years; if he will provide an update on these statistics; if he will provide an update on the projected loss of life and serious injury in the event of this project not going ahead, as communicated to the Minister previously by TII; if he believes this is an acceptable level of injury and loss of life; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52858/23]

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Oral answers (17 contributions)

Deputy Brendan Griffin

This question relates to the roads project from the Tralee side of Farranfore to the Cork side of Killarney. It is an important part of that Tralee-Cork corridor that we spoke about earlier. It is a highly dangerous section of road at present. It has high fatality figures as well. The Minister might update the House on recent statistics and projections by TII on what will happen if there is not an intervention. The congestion around Killarney, as discussed previously, is only part of this problem. That bigger connectivity issue is the main issue here.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

I spent my working life going from Cork to Kerry and around Killarney before coming into this House. I have a particular interest in and understanding of it. I thank the Deputy for his question as it raises a number of important points, including the issue of road safety. Since 2020 this Government has invested approximately €237 million in the road network in Kerry to ensure the protection and renewal of the existing network across the county and to deliver major new projects, such as the Listowel bypass which I mentioned earlier. This investment is supported through the national development plan which has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP, with a further €2.9 billion allocated for the protection and renewal of the existing national roads network over the same period.

The proposed N22 Farranfore to Killarney project involves approximately 27 km of road improvements on the N22 between the two towns. The project would link to the N71 and provides for a bypass of Farranfore village, a realigned N22 including a link into Killarney town and an outer bypass of Killarney town. Public consultations on route options were held between May and June 2021 and work is ongoing on the development of the preferred route, with this phase expected to be completed early next year. TII provided a grant allocation of €100,000 to the project in 2023 in this regard. The delivery programme for the project will be kept under review for 2024. The scheme remains part of the NDP and will be considered in terms of the overall funding envelope available to TII in future years. In this year alone, just over €70 million in Exchequer funding has been provided to support the road network in Kerry and I look forward to working with the roads authority in delivering a safe and sustainable network in the years ahead.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

I thank the Minister. This is a important project for my county and for the region. I hope that the Minister will find it in his heart in the coming weeks, when the TII allocations for 2024 are being granted, to provide adequate funding to progress this project. We are looking forward to seeing the preferred corridor, hopefully in the first quarter of 2024, but progress needs to continue after that.

I asked the Minister earlier - he might update the House on this - about the projected fatality figures that TII has given him. I know TII has given the Minister figures. The Minister might inform the House what those figures are because it is not acceptable that we would ignore a warning from TII and allow people to die on that section of road while it awaits upgrading. It is a highly dangerous section of road, and massively trafficked. It is the main artery into Killarney from the rest of the country, other than the Cork road. It is an important tourism route as well as a commuter route. We cannot stand by and allow this project to take years to come to fruition. It needs to be done as soon as possible. If the will is there, it will happen. Deputy Eamon Ryan is the Minister for Transport and we need him to make sure this project happens.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

I reiterate that public safety is the number one priority. When I was bringing people into and around Kerry, they were vulnerable road users. Road safety has to come first. I will go back to the earlier discussion, if I can. We have over €100 billion of projects and we have a €35 billion budget. I will put it to the Deputy this way: it is not that one project is always compared against another but that there is a number of different projects in the NDP for progression and there will have to be certain prioritisation. The Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West bypasses, which are at a similar stage in terms of route selection and in terms of real critical investment decisions we need to make, are critically important for the towns themselves and for road safety but they are also critical because everyone gets stuck in traffic, as the Deputy and his constituents will be aware. The Adare bypass will be a huge game-changer in terms of the massive traffic jams one might encounter when one is going to Tralee or Killarney from Dublin, Galway or further points to the west and north west. If we did Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West, it would be transformative on that route. We cannot develop all of the projects at the same time. We must have a certain sequencing and a certain prioritisation. As I have stated on a number of occasions in this House, with regard to a number of different counties and areas, town bypasses that ease gridlock, shorten journey times and improve safety are important as well.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

They are all important projects. It is all relative in terms of where one is and what one is doing.

In terms of the reality of the situation here, I have asked the Minister on a number of occasions this morning for the projected road fatalities and he has avoided the question. With all due respect, we have to be real about things here. The Minister has been given those figures. I know he has. Why can the Minister not address that in the House? What is the issue? Why can the Minister not face up to the fact that TII has given him these figures? This is the reality: because of the Minister's ideological position, the reality is that these people will die on the roads. It is something we should have a mature debate on in his House but the Minister cannot seem to even answer the question when I ask him.

I ask the Minister how many road openings has he been at. He has listed projects that are going ahead, but many of them started before he came into office. The Minister has an ideological disposition and that is the reality here. Am I just beating my head here against the benches when I ask the Minister about roads projects because it is quite clear he does not have the will? When I asked the Minister about the Tralee-Killarney road, I did not get any detail. I did not get any impression from the Minister that this is something he wants to see happening. It is an ideological position, but the Minister has to be aware that there is a cost to that ideological position and that cost is human life. As Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan has to stand over that.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

When I went to the TII board, I explained to them that my emphasis on road safety comes from very personal experience. Like a lot of people in this House, I went into politics to try to protect people on our roads having seen the tragic consequences of people being killed after being knocked down in front of me. My first priority is to save people on our roads and improve road safety through the use of speed cameras, through the use of better design and through the better design of roads. The Deputy can call that ideological, but it is a human response to the tragedy that road deaths bring. That is what motivates me to get up in the morning to come in here to do every day what I am doing.

I do not have the exact figure for that thing. It was not given within my supplementary figures.