‘It’s a national scandal’
Cork County Council will request a face to face meeting with the Minister for Transport to ask why appropriate funding has not been allocated for the Mallow relief road project.
At a meeting of Cork County Council on Monday, elected members voiced their disappointment at the lack of funding made available for the project.
It was revealed earlier in the year that funding of just €100,000 would be allocated in 2023 to the approximately €40 million project.
The road, which has been called for by residents and local representatives for a long time, would serve to divert traffic away from Mallow town centre, alleviating congestion and improving transport options across North Cork.
Councillors are now calling on Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan TD to explain the reasoning behind issuing a section 24 letter to TII as part of the roads allocation to Cork county for 2023 which effectively overruled TII’s proposal to fund the Mallow relief road project in the amount of €1.4 million.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting, Fine Gael Cllr John Paul O’Shea called for a face to face meeting with Minister Ryan to ask him “straight over the desk” why has he not allocated funding to Mallow relief road.
Cllr O’Shea said: “It's a national scandal at this stage. The Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) recommended to the Minister an allocation of €1.4 million for the project, and for whatever reason, Minister Ryan directed to only allocate €100,000.
“The €100,000 has already been spent, so effectively the road is now stalled.
“We can all see the benefits of a bypass. We're going through a process of bypassing Macroom town which is costing in the region of €280 million. This project is only at €40 million. We're doing everything in accordance with his own rules.”
Fianna Fáil Cllr Gearoid Murphy highlighted a number of other relief road projects in Cork, which are not part of the National Development Plan (NDP), received substantially more funding in 2023 than the Mallow project, even though the Mallow project is in the NDP.
Cllr Murphy said: “What is the point in having an NDP if you're going to direct a national agency not to follow it?
“We've done everything at a local level we can to progress this project, we've got all our ducks in a row, so there's a real sense here that we've been let down at national level.”
In February, Minister Ryan confirmed a planning application for the proposed Mallow relief road would be lodged before the end of 2023.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Pat Hayes said: “Mallow is the crossroads of Munster and we're all aware of the heavy goods that pass through the town centre on a daily basis, and how a Green minister can allow that to continue is just unbelievable.”