David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this Topical Issue and thank the Minister of State for being here this morning. She is working overtime and should get an increase in wages, she is doing so many Topical Issues for everybody else. I also acknowledge Deputy O'Connor. Both of us are Government TDs from the same constituency and raise the same issue. I do not know if anybody takes any notice out there any more in Government Departments of what happens in this Chamber. In any event, I will have probably my final go at this particular issue. I have raised it many times.

The N25 between Carrigtwohill and Youghal is probably one of the busiest roads in the country. It carries about 30,000 cars, vehicles, lorries, trucks and motorcycles per day. There are a number of sections. Concerning the section from Carrigtwohill to Midleton, in around 2020 there were plans between TII and Cork County Council to upgrade it, in other words, to build a whole new section there. It is way below standard at the moment. For some reason, when Deputy Ryan came in as Minister for Transport, he stopped the funding even though millions had already been spent on it. It is a very dangerous road. I am worried about the safety issue more than anything else. I do not want to stand here or see in newspapers in the near future situations where the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, had told me this was a grand, safe road and that we have no money yet people have been killed on it. That will not be good enough. My worry, which I know Deputy O'Connor also has, is that there are grade junctions, median crossing points and direct access points on this road. One can imagine traffic going at 100 km/h, two lanes of traffic bumper to bumper and people trying to get on it; they cannot. They cross the dual carriageway there as well. There is also the Amgen site which has been there for decades - an IDA industrial site which cannot be used because the road infrastructure is not up to standard. Thankfully, we are building thousands of houses in the area which is great for house-building but will increase traffic volumes enormously. The road is already at capacity. The section between Carrigtwohill and Midleton was stopped, the money was not made available and the local authority and TII were upset and concerned about it. My worry now is that even though a lot of work has been done, public consultation and so on, they will have to go back and do all of this again if it gets the go ahead in future.

Then, there is the Lakeview roundabout which is beyond capacity. I use it quite often. Every time I am on it, my heart is in my mouth. You play chicken trying to get onto it especially at peak times in the evening. It is exceptionally dangerous now moving into darker and wet evenings. I worry there will be a major collision there and loss of life. I have raised this time and again and have been told, as I am sure Deputy O'Connor has, that there will be safety measures put in place on that section of road from Carrigtwohill to Midleton. Nothing has happened; not a bob spent on it. The Lakeview roundabout is exceptionally dangerous. It is one of the busiest in the country and will get even more busy because more houses are being built in the area, increasing traffic congestion, risk and danger. Further east is Castlemartyr. Every morning, if you listen to the traffic reports on the radio, you hear about the traffic building up from the east into Castlemartyr. It is the same in the evening. There are several kilometres of traffic congestion on both sides morning and evening at peak times. It is very frustrating for people. Ironically, the pollution it causes is just crazy.

The quality of life for people living in Castlemartyr and in Killeagh further down has disimproved enormously because of this situation.

Deputy O'Connor has mentioned Burgess previously, and he has done a lot of work on this issue, as have I. It is between Killeagh and Castlemartyr. We have had several serious accidents there and again we have been promised safety measures and road improvements, but nothing has happened. Not one thing has happened. I do not know if people are asleep at the wheel in TII. The Minister has certainly pulled the funding for all this work. My major concern, however, is safety and ensuring people can get from A to B and to their places of work safely and much easier. The whole pollution aspect has gone way up as well with traffic sitting there, belching out diesel and petrol fumes.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ryan. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with TII under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TIl, in conjunction with the local authorities. I am sorry if this may be frustrating the Deputy because I feel I am reading out the same answer again. The national roads programme is ultimately delivered by TII in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the NDP.

The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP. I have taken notes regarding what the Deputy said about 30,000 people using that road daily. This funding provided will enable improved regional accessibility as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic outcomes. The funding will provide for the development of numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects already at construction stage and those close to it, as well as the development of a number of others.

As the greater portion of this funding becomes available in the second half of the decade, this has meant that there is a constraint on the funding available for new projects in 2024. However, approximately €411 million of Exchequer capital funds were provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2024. The N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton project is one of several national road projects in Cork that are included in the NDP. Others include the recently completed upgrade to the Dunkettle interchange and the N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom project, which was completed last year. In 2024, almost €56 million in Exchequer funding was allocated to Cork County Council through TII. This money will be used to fund a number of new road projects, including the M28 between Cork and Ringaskiddy and the N25 Castlemartyr and Killeagh bypass. Funding is also provided for the protection and renewal of the national road network in the county.

Regarding the current status of the N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton project, technical advisers have completed their assessment of the route options and have determined the preferred solution. Improvements to crossings over this very busy section of the N25 to enhance active travel are being considered as part of the scheme. The project did not receive funding in 2024, but as with all national road projects in the NDP, the delivery programme of these projects will be kept under review for 2025 and considered in terms of the overall funding envelope available to TII. The project remains a part of the NDP. However, TII has allocated funding to Cork County Council to identify measures with the potential to address specific safety issues between Carrigtwohill and Lake View Roundabout at Midleton. The Cork national roads office has undertaken significant desktop work on identifying options in this regard and undertaken discussions on this matter with affected stakeholders with the intention of applying for planning permission during 2025.

With regard to the N25 east of Midleton, TII is funding Cork County Council's development of a major project, the N25 Midleton to Youghal scheme. This scheme would deliver a bypass of Castlemartyr to Killeagh, locations that suffer from significant levels of congestion. Works to date have focused on the identification of constraints within the study area and high-level options that are feasible to deliver the project's objectives. These include accommodating strategic traffic and removing traffic from the Castlemartyr to Killeagh road as well as improving safety. In 2024, €450,000 has been allocated for the progression of the scheme. I take on board, however, what the Deputy said and his priority being safety.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. Again, as she commented, this response is a cut-and-paste of what I have heard many times. I am sure my colleague here has heard it many times too. What is interesting here are the safety measures on the N25 between Carrigtwohill and Midleton, which is an extraordinarily dangerous and busy section of road. There is an intention to apply for planning permission in this regard during 2025. That could be in December 2025 and we might not see any works happening until 2026 or 2027. In the meantime, the €2 million already spent on that project has been wasted because the major upgrade that TII and the county council had worked so hard on was stalled and not allowed to proceed. Yet work is going ahead now on what we might call this Band-Aid type of effort, which will again take a lot of time, with more planning permission required, etc, instead of carrying on with the major scheme. I again wish to emphasise the safety of people. Lake View Roundabout is extraordinarily dangerous. Traffic lights should perhaps be put on it at this stage as an interim measure to make it safer. I know it would slow traffic down even further, but this roundabout is exceptionally dangerous.

Moving further east into Castlemartyr, as I said, the congestion there is mind-blowing. There are kilometres of traffic on both sides of the road there at certain times during the day. We then go on to Burgess further on, which again is exceptionally dangerous. There have been many accidents there.

Somehow or other, when we speak in this House about things like this, we get cut-and-paste answers. The Ministers are not available. I respect the Minister of State who has come here. She is working exceptionally hard. This is something that is happening a lot. We do not have Ministers here, but this House should take precedence. When I was a Minister of State, I always made sure I was in here answering questions put to the Department of Justice. It is not happening anymore. This is no slight on the Minister of State who is here now. This House should be number one and everything else should be numbers two, three and four. This is the national Parliament after all at the end of the day and it is being treated abysmally by some of the Ministers who hardly turn up at all. They send in a Minister of State to read a script that is a cut-and-paste of stuff we have heard many times previously. I am on about safety and saving lives this morning, however, and this is the message I wish to bring forward to the Minister and anyone else who might be listening.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I take on board totally what he just said and I will relay it back. This is about safety and saving lives. Yet again, though, I must read another such reply. I must read everything I am given because I am deputising.

Approximately €411 million of Exchequer capital funds was provided to TII for national roads in 2024. In line with the NDP and Government policy, TII seeks to allocate national roads funding to local authorities in a manner that seeks to achieve the following key outcomes: the protection and renewal of the existing national road network, progressing major projects that are in or near construction, progressing major projects that are pre-construction but well advanced in the development pipeline, and prioritising any remaining funds for major projects that provide for local bypasses and compact growth in our towns and villages. The N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton project will be considered for funding in future years.