I am delighted to get this opportunity to raise the matter of the proposed Macroom-Ballyvourney bypass which will run from the west of Ballyvourney to Coolcower in the east of Macroom bypassing Ballyvourney, Coolavokig and all those treacherous bends and beyond Macroom town where people are delayed in traffic for 30, 40 or 45 minutes. This project is of paramount strategic importance to all the people of Kerry, all those who travel to Cork and back every day for work and the many hundreds of people from Kerry who have to travel to consultants and doctors in Cork University Hospital, Mercy University Hospital and South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital. For people who have to go for radiotherapy to survive and for a chance to live their full lives, this is the only avenue they have to go to get that treatment. This is the place they have to go. People have to travel from as far away as Cahirciveen, Dingle and Fenit and are held up for 30 to 45 minutes going through Macroom.

As the Minister will be aware, we are surrounded to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and the N22 route, to Cork city and to the motorway to Dublin, is a heavily trafficked route. Kerry County Council has come as far as it can to the top of the county bounds. Surely it cannot be asked to come further over into the heart of the county of Cork to make a road into Cork city to which it is very much entitled. The lack of this basic infrastructure is denying Kerry employment opportunities and is prohibiting any investment coming into our county. I understand it was one of the key reasons the Kerry Group set up its global technology innovation centre in County Kildare and cost Kerry up to 900 jobs, which, had it set up in Farranfore as was expected, would have been a massive boost to our county.

This project has been sought for more than 30 years and has been firmly on the agenda for the past 20 years. However, it has been held up by environmentalists and others who thought up ridiculous reasons, such as snails and other species. To rub salt into our wounds, they described them as the Kerry snail. Did they put a Kerry jersey on him or how did they decide he was a Kerry snail? There was plenty of money around ten years ago but these people held up this project for those unreasonable reasons.

I thank Deputy Danny Healy-Rae for raising this. Coming from my previous job where we were concerned to speed up the development of the south west, I am in no doubt that infrastructure such as this is very important. I understand the project has a strong cost-benefit ratio and that reflects its strategic importance. It is one of the projects that have been singled out in the transport plan as a priority area.

The work on this project is well advanced. It has full statutory approval. I understand the notice to treat has gone out to landowners on the route and that land acquisition is under way. Already significant money has been expended on the scheme in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and this is getting high priority within the transport programme. Of course, the transport programme proceeds on the basis of the capital available each year but a €6 billion road capital programme has been put in place. A project such as this will have high priority within the roll-out of this programme and all the due preparatory work is being put in place to deliver it.

On the Kerry Group issue, I was directly involved in that project. While I know there would have been a great desire to see that in Kerry, the truth was that it was competing with the Netherlands and the UK. There was a really difficult competition to win to get that project for Ireland at all and the project was, of its nature, one that would have to be located close to deep skill pools that were demanded by it. There are significant opportunities in the south west to build, particularly on the assets of Kerry as a location for enterprise. It is very much our desire, both through our regional enterprise strategy but also through the infrastructure programmes such as this, to give priority to such opportunities.

The previous Government announced that this project was on the six-year investment programme. In which of the six years will that project be delivered? Will this project be in next year's Book of Estimates and, if not, will the Government bring it forward because we in Kerry have waited long enough?

All the jobs being announced at present are for the eastern side of the county and we feel the fact this project has not yet got the go-ahead is one of the biggest reasons Kerry is getting no investment. If we continue in the present vein, I fear that Ireland will topple into the Irish Sea because all the investment is coming to the east of the country, and especially Dublin. I do not begrudge them but we are entitled to live in Kerry also. I ask the Government, as a matter of priority, to ensure this project gets the go-ahead next year.

I am not in a position to identify what will be in the 2017 Estimates.

I can give the Deputy some reassurance that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform recently announced to the House, as the Deputy knows, that the capital envelope is being increased and the specific commitment to a €4 billion fund that was in the programme for Government will be raised to €5 billion. The prospects are that our capital programme over the next number of years will increase significantly at over 10% per annum, as outlined in the Minister's statement. I am thankful that due to the improved economic performance, we are in a position to increase investment compared with what was previously planned. I do not know where this project lies in the framing of next year's Estimates but I will certainly convey the Deputy's concern to the two Ministers involved.

Post the envelope to Kerry.