Road Safety Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-30 ============================================================ Catherine Ardagh (FF), Dublin South-Central In line with the national development plan and Government policy, the Minister for Transport has allocated national roads funding in a manner that seeks to achieve the following outcomes: the protection and renewal of the existing national roads network; progressing major projects in or near construction; and progressing major projects that are preconstruction but well advanced in the development pipeline. It is important to note that, in 2026, approximately €138.66 million in capital Exchequer funding was allocated for the national road network in County Cork. This funds the protection and renewal of the existing roads network and includes new national road projects. This is in keeping with the programme for Government, which commits to enhancing connectivity across urban and rural areas through investing in diverse transport options, including roads, and to investing in all road projects in the current national development plan. As part of the programme for Government, there is a commitment to increase funding for new roads as part of the national development plan's review and maintenance of existing roads. The national development plan review's sectoral investment plan for transport was published by the Government on 26 November. The sectoral investment plan sets out capital ceilings for transport to 2030 and received increased investment in transport infrastructure as compared to the first half of the decade. The Senator asked for an up-to-date position on road safety improvement works at the N22 junctions between Macroom and Ballincollig, including the works at the Castlemore junction. She also asked for the expected delivery time. I will pass on her message to the Minister and I appreciate the Senator raising it today. --- 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