Road Safety
Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-30
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Eileen Lynch (FG), Agricultural Panel

I thank the Minister of State for outlining that message and taking my question. I do not for one second want to take away from the massive volume of investment and work that has been done on this road. The delivery of the bypass between Ballyvourney and Macroom was a massive achievement. It had been discussed in the area since the 1970s and it was delivered in 2023. The bypass is working well. I appreciate that a lot of money is invested in roads in County Cork and I acknowledge that the county has one of the largest road networks in the country, so it merits the money that we get.
In terms of when the Castlemore project will be expedited, we still do not really have a delivery date, even though technical advisers are being procured. All of this takes an incredible amount of time and is incredibly frustrating for anybody, either a public representative or a member of the public.
I note that €3.5 million has been allocated for pavement schemes. These works are going well and there is no doubt that they are beneficial but I wonder sometimes if the wrong things are being prioritised when it comes to roads funding. I would argue that interim safety measures on this road are more vital than footpaths at the moment. I understand that there are different funding phases and money cannot be moved from one scheme to another but I urge the Minister of State to convey the importance of this project to the Minister. I do not want to be standing here in a few months or a year's time and have to say that there has been a fatal collision on this road as a result of a lack of safety measures.

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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