James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to raise the issue of the withdrawal of funding for TII schemes. A number of national road schemes throughout the country have been impacted this year by very substantial funding uncertainty. Schemes such as the N72 in my own constituency, along with schemes in other parts of Cork, such as the N71 in Bantry, and others in counties Tipperary, Wexford, Roscommon and Longford have been prevented from being progressed because the funding was not available as of August 2024. To update the House, of the projects that are supposed to be done under pavement schemes by TII's programme in 2024, 46 projects, representing 66% of the annual workload of TII, had not yet gone to tender as of the end of August. Frankly, this is very bad management by the Department of Transport, which is allowing TII to come forward with an annual budget that is not funded.

TII is a very good organisation. It has a great track record of delivering national road projects on budget and on time. Examples are Dunkettle, the N22 scheme in Cork and the Ballyvourney-Macroom bypass. These projects were delivered on time and on budget. I think the Ballyvourney-Macroom scheme actually came in ahead of schedule. As an organisation, TII is definitely doing its job properly. It has shown time and again in recent years that it is very adept at what it does. It is unacceptable to me, as the Fianna Fáil Party spokesperson on transport and a TD representing the constituency of Cork East, that this situation is allowed to persist as a result of what I believe is greenwashing of the Department of Transport's budget through the withdrawal of funds that should be allocated to national road projects, be they maintenance or new road capital projects, and the reallocation of those funds to mobility projects. We know that €1 million per day is being spent on cycling and walking, which is great, but my issue is that projects in my constituency that were planned and decided on to be done in February of this year have not been done because the funding is not there.

This creates an enormous political issue, as one would expect, and it is not acceptable to me as a Government politician. I also want to make the point that when it comes to other major schemes we have seen the hold-up of the national road projects, including the Cork-Limerick motorway. It is a long way behind schedule. That should definitely be given the accelerator pedal in the Department of Transport. I am concerned about the lack of progress on the Fermoy main street resurfacing. This was one of the projects that was held up. We have heard announcements recently that it will be sorted out in this calendar year. I reiterate the need for that to happen.

There are two major schemes in the south section of the constituency, the first of these being the N25 Midleton to Carrigtwohill scheme. Both Deputy Stanton, who is seated beside me, and I have pointed to the need for this project to be done. The second is the Castlemartyr and Killeagh bypasses or what is now referred to by TII as the Midleton to Youghal scheme. These projects all need capital funding in order to be progressed.

I acknowledge that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is here today to take the question. Why is the Minister for Transport not funding the projects? It has to be done. Unless funding is provided, these projects cannot progress.

There is more to this than infrastructure. It is also about safety on our roads and removing some of the most dangerous sections of roads in the country. Very sadly, there have been a number of very dangerous car accidents on the N25, including a multitude of fatalities. As a TD for that constituency, I feel an obligation to express the need for these schemes to be progressed. The N73 and N72 in north Cork are just as dangerous and are also in need of funding. I ask that this issue be looked into and a solution found.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan. He has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding for 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 and improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with the relevant local authorities. TII delivers the national roads programme 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 road projects from 2021 to 2030, as part of the NDP. This funding will enable improved regional accessibility across the country as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic objectives. The funding will provide for the development of numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects which are 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 constraint on funding available for new projects in the period to 2025. However, approximately €412 million of Exchequer funding capital was provided to the national roads programme through TII to local authorities in 2024. While there has been no reduction in the overall capital funding available for national roads in 2024 since the allocations were announced, a number of new road projects are facing funding pressures in 2024. This is due to a number of reasons, including the increased pace of delivery, land acquisition costs, inflation and increased costs for materials, which are more expensive than when the estimates were originally calculated.

The major new road projects which face funding pressures include the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge project, which is under construction, and the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy and Limerick to Foynes, including the Adare bypass, projects, which are approaching the construction phase. A number of projects at an earlier stage in the development cycle are also affected. In order to ensure the continued delivery of these important projects, TII proposed earlier this year to postpone some asset renewal works on the existing network until 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. This is particularly the case where existing contracts are in place. In addition, some greenway funding will be used to advance active travel infrastructure on the national road network, which would otherwise be funded from the roads budget. This will allow funding to be directed to new roads projects. These important projects are in line with the commitment of the Government to invest in new roads infrastructure to ensure all parts of Ireland are connected to one other. They will also assist in removing traffic from our towns and villages, creating more liveable communities.

It is important to note that the postponement of temporary and safety improvement schemes will not be affected by these measures. In fact, the Minister is pleased to advise the House that TII has recently identified funding for a small number of these paused pavement improvement schemes, which were identified as being in particular need of intervention.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. I acknowledge that within it there was reference to moneys spent. What I want to discuss, however, is money that has been allocated for expenditure in this calendar year but is not being spent.

Normally, Transport Infrastructure Ireland's budget is agreed by its board, in consultation with the Department of Transport, generally in the second week of December. That was the case before this Government came to power and before we had a Green Party Minister in the Department of Transport. Since the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan,took office, however, we have seen this decision delayed as much as halfway into the month of February and a State agency signing off on the annual transport budget seven or eight weeks into the new year. It is farcical and people know it. Those who work in this industry also know it is the case. It gives an indication that there are very serious issues with the allocations that are being signed off.

What annoys me as a TD - it gets under my skin, frankly - is that this State agency is approving a budget for expenditure in a calendar year that is subsequently not funded. Talk about a pie in the face for any Government TD in a constituency later in the year where TII has to say that, actually, it does not have the money to fund these projects because it is not getting the support from the Department of Transport. I question the level of engagement between the Departments of transport and public expenditure around their needs. That is coming from a policy perspective from the Minister at the head of the Department of Transport. This has to be addressed.

Ultimately, towns like Fermoy and other areas in constituencies like my own, as well as national road schemes that people depend on to get to and from their daily place of work, will ultimately suffer. Some very significant safety improvement schemes have not progressed. As I said to the House, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, 66% of the schemes had not been tendered as of August. That is completely and utterly unacceptable.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Over the past 25 years, the Government of Ireland has invested heavily in our national roads network, with an extensive motorway system now in place. The motorway network has seen almost tenfold expansion since 2000. Due to the outlined funding constraints for national roads, a prioritisation exercise was necessary from the outset. In line with the NDP and Government policy, the Minister for Transport allocated national road funding for 2023 in a manner which sought to achieve the following key outcomes: protection or renewal of existing national road network; progressing major projects in or near construction; progressing major projects which are pre-construction but well advanced in the development pipeline; and prioritising any remaining funds for major projects which provide for local bypasses and compact growth in Ireland's towns and villages. The Department of Transport and TII engage on a regular basis on the national roads programme and the Department is committed to the continued maintenance and renewal of the existing road network.

The programme for Government commits to full protection of essential road and public transport maintenance and upkeep budgets to ensure continued public safety and connectivity. It also commits to continued investment in new roads infrastructure to ensure that all parts of Ireland are connected to one other. In support of this, approximately €412 million of Exchequer capital funding was allocated to the national roads for both protection and renewal and new roads in 2024. This has resulted in many improvements to the network, as demonstrated by the Dunkettle interchange project which was opened this year.