Cork-Limerick motorway
A Deputy sought reassurance that the proposed Cork-Limerick motorway will proceed and asked when it might begin. The Minister said there was no chance of it being dropped and that the new plan provided more time and funding, though no exact date could be given.
In view of yesterday's announcement, I want to ask about an essential piece of infrastructure, namely, the proposed Cork-Limerick or, as I prefer to say, Limerick-Cork, motorway. I am as wise today as I was yesterday. What I seek is an assurance that this will actually happen. If it is to happen, can the Minister give us a clue or his opinion as to what year it might start? I am inundated with queries from business organisations, communities etc. down in Limerick. Is it possible that this could be dropped entirely due to the inter-road competition we are hearing so much about now?
Comment on this
I do not think there is any chance of this being dropped for many of the reasons the Deputy outlined but also because many in the Government, myself included, have given strong commitment to delivering on a motorway between Ireland's second and third cities. There was a strong commitment in the last development plan to deliver the M20 and there is a strong commitment in this development plan to do it. The big difference between the two development plans is there is more time and a lot more money attached to this one. I cannot give the Deputy an exact date because the permissions and processes that need to be gone through but certainly there is a very strong political commitment to the M20.