Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. I know that this project is of great interest to him.

The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the National Development Plan. The greater portion of the funding for new road projects becomes available in the second half of the decade, and this has meant that there was a constraint on the funding available for new projects this year.

Approximately €411m of exchequer capital funds have been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2024. These allocations were announced by the Department of Transport and TII on the 22nd of February.

Having regard to the funding constraint outlined above, it was not possible to provide an allocation to all new national road projects in the NDP for 2024. However, the majority of projects have been allocated funding, including the N4 Mullingar to Longford Scheme, which has received an allocation of €1.44 million.

This project, as proposed, would run for 54km between Mullingar and Rooskey, bypassing towns and villages including Rathowen, Edgeworthstown and Newtown Forbes. A draft Emerging Preferred Transport Corridor has been determined and work is ongoing on finalising the preferred route. It is expected that the route selection phase will conclude later this year, with the next phase involving the detailed design and environmental evaluation of the project. As with all national roads projects included in the NDP, the delivery programme for the project will be kept under review this year and in future years. This will include consideration of all developments in relation to the project.

I hope that this information is of assistance.