I have heard the Taoiseach has visited west Cork twice in the past two years. Last year he went as far west as my parish in Goleen, passing my own door on the way to Schull and last weekend he went to Bandon and Courtmacsherry. In contrast to the recent visit by the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, who is sitting next to the Taoiseach, my biggest regret is that the Taoiseach did not contact me about these visits as I would have welcomed him to west Cork and shown him the positive moves communities are making. I also would have asked him to meet communities that are struggling. Last year in Goleen, he posed for photos outside the most south-westerly post office in Ireland, which had closed its doors just three weeks before his visit and will never reopen again as it was not viable as many interested people told me.

The Taoiseach went on to Schull that morning and posed for photos outside the newly proposed marina which would have been a game-changer for the Mizen Peninsula. A number of years ago members of the community were taken to the office of a then Fine Gael Minister where they posed for photos with senior Ministers congratulating them on getting the money, only for the same massive funds to be redirected to the constituency of another Minister who was struggling politically at the time.

When in west Cork last week, did the Taoiseach meet members of Cork County Council to discuss the AIRO report, an independent report commissioned by Cork County Council showing that for decades it has been the local authority receiving the lowest amount of funding in the country? This is the funding for roads, local improvement scheme, LIS, projects, urban-village renewal as well as rural regeneration funds and many more.

On his visit did he meet the thousands of frustrated users of cars, lorries, tractors and other vehicles who daily drive on the most appalling roads in west Cork? These people in west Cork get up early in the morning. They pay their car tax, their insurance and their income tax in the expectation of having a half-decent road. There are roads like the bog road in Schull falling into the neighbour's field, and roads like the roundabout beside Dunnes Stores where a car going into a hole will need to be pulled out of it. There is the Skibbereen to Leap road where if the front or back wheels hit the holes, they will burst a tyre or damage a rim.

On his two trips to west Cork, did the Taoiseach visit the unfinished southern relief road in Bandon the completion of which is now decades behind? Did he look at the much-needed northern relief road in Bandon? Did he call into the people of Innishannon and apologise to them for not working with me on their relief road for which I and others in this Dáil have been begging? Did he call to the people of Bantry and apologise to the people in Bantry and Beara for not pushing for the relief road for Bantry? These projects lie decades behind. There is no movement but promises from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil politicians at each election. We are left without a sod turned or a cent given.

The people of west Cork are sick of being treated like second-class citizens when it comes to funds from the national purse. West Cork is sick of getting crumbs from the rich man's table while pristine tar is laid on top of pristine tar in and around our capital. When in west Cork, did the Taoiseach meet the council or National Transport Authority, NTA, to discuss simple passing bays that could be created between Bandon and Clonakilty, Clonakilty to Skibbereen on the N71, or Bandon to Ballineen on the R586, thus preventing drivers being held up behind lorries or tractors for half an hour some days?

After two visits to west Cork, has the Taoiseach addressed the AIRO report carried out by Cork County Council or has he progressed any of the bypasses I mentioned? If so, I ask him to tell me the progress now.

I hope the Taoiseach brought his diary.

My diary is published.

It was a real pleasure to have a chance to visit west Cork again. It is surely one of the most beautiful parts of the country. I was really glad to meet people in different parts of it and talk to them on this occasion. I got to visit Bandon, Clonakilty, Timoleague and also Courtmacsherry. While I did not meet the people the Deputy mentioned, I met a number of councillors who impressed on me the need to find more funding for road maintenance and restoration. In Senator Lombard's office in Bandon, I met with business groups from the town. They specifically raised the issue of the relief road. These are issues on my agenda.

The issue of road maintenance and restoration is not a problem unique to Cork or west Cork. It is coming up all over the country that the budgets allocated to local authorities to repair and restore roads are not going as far as they went in previous years because of inflation. We acknowledge that. In recognition of that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, allocated an additional €22 million for local and regional road maintenance in the past week or so. We are examining whether it is possible to find more money within the transport budget to do that. I do not know if that is possible yet but it is something we are certainly considering. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is working on finding additional funding for local improvement schemes which are very important for rural laneways in particular. The budget for that has increased considerably under the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, in recent years.

I was briefed on the Bandon relief road project when I met the business leaders in Bandon and I have agreed to follow up on it. Every year we have a budget of about €250 million for new roads. The Deputy will be familiar with the works at Dunkettle which are almost complete. There has been huge investment there and it will benefit people from Cork city and west Cork. It is never the case that there is enough funding to advance every project that we would like to advance, but there are projects that we will be able to advance in the future.

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. He does not seem to grasp the crisis I am talking about. He is always welcome to west Cork, one of the most stunning parts of our country. However, it is not Jurassic Park, where you drive in and drive out waving and smiling. We live there with the unfinished bypasses and those that have not been done at all. We live with no simple passing bays being built on the N71 or the R586. It is not going on for two or three years but for decades. The Taoiseach keeps mentioning one bypass but it is two bypasses for Bandon. I am shocked Senator Lombard did not sit the Taoiseach down with Cork County Council officials and arrange a meeting to talk about the lack of funding in the AIRO report.

I ask the Taoiseach one more time to take up my offer. I invite him to west Cork to discuss the roads funding crisis for bypasses and passing bays immediately so the people of Goleen, Ballydehob, Schull and Skibbereen, all the way into Clonakilty, Bandon and Kinsale, can have the same type of road structure most people have throughout the country. We do not have it and are decades behind for bypasses in Bantry, southern and northern relief roads in Bandon and in Innishannon. It is on the Taoiseach’s watch. Will there be moves on any one of those bypasses?

I will be happy to come back to the Deputy in detail on the specific projects he raises. I know from my visit to west Cork in the past couple of days there has been huge investment in the area. The Deputy knows in the town of Bandon the amount of work that has been done to install flood relief. We all remember the floods in Bandon. Under the previous Government and this one, millions of euro have been invested in flood protection works. Also in Bandon, I saw the work being done to upgrade the main street. I think about €30 million has been put into that town by this Government in recent years, which I know the Deputy neglected to welcome but I am sure he does welcome it.

I heard very encouraging news from the councillors I met there on the uptake of the derelict buildings grant. I think there have been about 500 applications in County Cork alone for people to take on, refurbish and renovate derelict buildings and bring them back into use. That is really encouraging because we want to bring old buildings back into use. There has been huge investment under the LEADER programme, the town and village scheme and the national broadband plan. I am glad to see that is working. I absolutely acknowledge more investment is needed in west Cork and around the country in coming years, but that investment will only be possible if we can pay for it and we will only be able to pay for it if we continue to have a Government made up of parties that supported the economic policies introduced in this country over the past ten or 12 years.