Road Safety Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-30 ============================================================ Eileen Lynch (FG), Agricultural Panel Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a bheith anseo linn inniu. I am looking for an up-to-date position on road safety improvements along the N22 between Macroom and Ballincollig in County Cork, particularly at the Castlemore junction. First, I acknowledge that we have seen significant work on the N22 over the last few years. We have seen the delivery of the Macroom bypass, which has made a massive difference to Macroom town and the environs. It was a very positive step. The town and community had been promised it since the 1970s, so it was great to finally see it delivered three years ago. We now need to address the remaining section of the N22 between Macroom and Ovens and Ballincollig. This is an extremely busy national road. It is the main gateway from Cork into Kerry and crosses the county bounds. It is vital that we improve this infrastructure. For very many years, there have been continuing concerns among residents and commuters about the high level of accidents on this road. The commuters who use the road to get to work, and the residents who live along it, are only too aware of how difficult it is to get out onto it. It is quite incredible, but there are around 25 major junctions between Macroom and Ballincollig and, unfortunately, there have been a massive number of collisions at those junctions over the years. The Castlemore junction, as I have highlighted, is one of the junction that requires particular attention. The Castlemore junction is where the R585 meets the N22 and has already been identified as a high collision location. There are approximately 9,500 vehicles using this section of road every day. That is a very substantial volume of traffic. The proposed solution is to replace the existing priority junction with a roundabout, which would address in particular the difficulties associated with vehicles turning right from Castlemore towards Cork. While this is a necessary intervention, where exactly does this project now stand? Previous information indicated that the scheme was at the early development stage and I understand that it may have gone as far as design stage, but we are still being told that the project may not be delivered until 2029. I ask the Minister of State to confirm whether that is still the anticipated delivery date. If, unfortunately, it is, what kinds of interim safety measure are we looking at, given the safety concerns and volume of traffic at this junction? The Macroom bypass has shown what can be achieved when we put in this level of investment. It also highlights the need to address the remaining sections of the route. As I understand it, no work has been done to advance the necessary works at this section of the road from Macroom to Ovens, which is the last remaining national road within County Cork that does not have an upgrade plan or some plan in place for its redevelopment. That is an incredible situation considering the volume of traffic and lets down the progress that has been made. The bypass provides a very high-quality road as far as Macroom and there is a high-quality road on the way back into the city but the rural part, from Macroom to Ovens, has been completely neglected. I am a realist and know that such a major project cannot be delivered overnight but communities need certainty and safety is of great concern, given the amount of collisions we have seen. There was a death on this road three years ago and as a result, interim safety measures were installed. I do not want to be here speaking again when somebody else dies and saying that we spoke about this already but the urgency to deal with it was not taken on board. I ask the Minister of State for a clear update today on the overall road safety programme and, particularly, on Castlemore junction. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-09-30/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-30