Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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4. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for an update on progress in upgrading the N17 from Knock to Collooney. [28723/24]

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I am looking for an update on progress in upgrading the N17 from Knock to Collooney. This is a major issue of concern from a strategic, economic perspective and a safety perspective. Progress has been slow. It is the main artery from Galway to the north west so I want to hear what progress is being made.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As I said in my response to Deputy McGrath, I can confirm that approximately €411 million of Exchequer capital funds were provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2024. These allocations were announced by the Department of Transport and TII on the 22 February 2024.

The N17 Knock to Collooney scheme has been identified in the national development plan. This section of the N17 covers approximately 55 km in length and has a number of towns and villages on the route, most notably Tobercurry and Charlestown. The project aims to remove traffic from these urban centres, as well as improve safety on the route. TII has been working to progress this scheme through planning, design and construction. I confirm that €900,000 was allocated for the N17 Knock to Collooney scheme in 2024. An emerging preferred transport corridor was announced at the start of 2023, with a period of public consultation taking place following this. Route selection has been finalised, as of 7 March this year, and the design and environmental evaluation phase is under way.

The project team is preparing for studies and surveys which will be carried out to progress this phase. A particular focus is on the delivery of the Tobercurry and Charlestown bypass elements of the scheme. Removing traffic from the centre of these towns will greatly improve the quality of life of local residents, in line with the town centre first policy. It is also in keeping with the principle of compact growth in the programme for Government and is a national strategic outcome in the national planning framework. As with all national roads projects in the NDP, the delivery programme for the project will be kept under review on an ongoing basis. I hope this update is of assistance to the Deputy.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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From what the Minister said, he is talking about bypasses of Tobercurry and Charlestown and nothing else. While that is fine, there are a number of really dangerous stretches on this road, especially between Curry and Tobercurry. I do not know whether he is familiar with the road. There are also some very dangerous sections between Tobercurry and Collooney. Work needs to start on those sections. One of the main reasons to upgrade the N17, apart from the fact that it is an economic corridor, is safety concerns. I want to see money being spent on those sections.

The last time I was lucky enough to ask an oral question on transport was just over a year ago. The then Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, answered it. When I asked him about progress on the N17, one of his comments was, "As with all national road projects in the NDP, the delivery programme for the project will be set out later in 2024." We are in the second half of 2024. Will the Minister confirm a timeframe and start and completion dates of the upgrade of the N17? What is the overall cost that is estimated and how much of that money has been spent?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will not have those figures until we get the business case, as is the case with what I said in respect of the Cahir to Limerick Junction road. It is at the business case phase that we start to get an indicative outline of the potential costs. I agree with the Deputy that road safety is our key first objective.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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It has to be.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We provided specific funding to TII to examine whether we can improve our existing national road network, even if we are not doing the full motorway or new project appraisal or development and whether we can improve safety measures on all carriageways, particularly national roads, through a variety of different measures, such as investment in junctions, speed measurement measures and other road improvements. I agree that safety has to come first.

The second priority is to try to improve our towns, such as Tobercurry and Charlestown.

It is right, in exactly the same way it is right to focus on Tipperary town first and, similarly, on the N17. Taking through traffic out of towns is one of the most important immediate benefits. We will be doing that in many other areas such as Virginia, County Cavan. Rather than doing the entire road network, you start with the town section because it is important that the limited funding we have is used to prioritise safety and towns.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I hear what the Minister is saying about safety and towns. I will come back to that in a minute. It is also important to remember that the N17 is a strategic economic corridor for the north west. That cannot be left out of any calculations.

Regarding safety schemes on the N17 and national roads, one of the issues raised with me is that, rather than having a minor improvements scheme, which usually cost between €1 million and €2 million, a smaller scheme costing a couple of hundred thousand euro might be considered, perhaps to improve sightlines at junctions, for example. The only funds that seem to be available for that kind of project are in the region of €50,000 or €60,000. That is not enough money. There is an important middle ground there that would make a difference on the N17. I ask the Minister to look again at that when he is finalising his plans. If he could come back to me on it, I would greatly appreciate it.

On a related issue, the bus service on the route from Tubbercurry to Sligo is only Expressway. Over a distance of 24 km, there is only one designated stop. We need a bus service on that route because the current service is totally inadequate. I ask the Minister to look at that also.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will look at that. I hear what the Deputy is saying about the need for strategic corridors to the north west. That will involve a variety of different projects, not just roads but also investment in rail and bus services. That is why we have a difficult budget allocation process. The rolling out of further Connecting Ireland rural bus services requires a great deal of funding.

On the Deputy's first point, I agree that there are many instances where small- or medium-scale investment on roads for road safety improvements, in particular, should be considered. That is why in last year's budget we allocated specific additional funding. I do not have the exact figure in front of me but from memory, I believe it was roughly €20 million. That funding was designed to be used for exactly that purpose, namely, to deal with sections of road, particularly on national routes, where speeds tend to be high and there are two lanes of traffic with no segregation and also traffic coming on to the national road. That presents particular safety issues. We specifically informed TII that we wanted to focus on those as well as the big and very small projects. I fully agree with the Deputy that medium-scale interventions to improve safety have to be a real focus.