Road Projects Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-12 ============================================================ Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central I thank Senator O'Reilly for raising this very important matter. I thank him for articulating the frustration expressed by motorists and people in the town of Virginia. I also thank the Senator and Councillor T.P. O'Reilly for their advocacy and continued lobbying in respect of the importance of the Virginia bypass to the people of Cavan. I am not sure I have good news on the timeline for him this morning. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport. As the Senator will know, the Minister has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme. Once that funding has been put in place, it is transferred to TII under the Roads Acts and, in this case, to Cavan County Council. Planning and the upgrading of individual national roads under the national development plan is a matter for TII. Under Project Ireland 2040 and the NDP, TII will ultimately a deliver a national roads programme. It is important to point out that we have had a number of major projects successfully concluded. Our colleague and friend, Senator Lynch, can testify to the N22 Baile Bhuirne to Macroom road. I thank her for her work on that. Along with the N2 Clontibret to the Border and N2 Ardee to Castleblayney projects, the N3 Virginia bypass is one of a number of new national road projects in the north east identified for development over the lifetime of the national development plan. Furthermore, in the sectoral investment plan for transport, which was published last year, the Virginia bypass was listed among projects identified to be in procurement or under construction by 2030. The proposed project will ease congestion in the town of Virginia. As the Senator has hoped, it will provide an opportunity to improve public realm facilities, the lives of people in the area and road safety, particularly for vulnerable road users, through the provision of dedicated cycling and walking infrastructure. As we have both said, the reduction of congestion will have a positive impact on the wider region. Journey times will also be improved and there will be a prosperous economic upturn for the region. Some €502 million of Exchequer capital funding was allocated to TII last year to be used for the construction of major new road projects and the protection and renewal of existing roads. Cavan County Council received €9 million. Next week, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I will announce the roads projects for this year. I confirm that €1.2 million was allocated for the N3 bypass scheme in 2025. In relation to the current status of the scheme, following the selection of a preferred route, the N3 Virginia bypass is currently advancing through the design and environmental evaluation phase of TII's project management guidelines. During this phase, the design of the project is being further refined with topographical work and geotechnical investigations ongoing, along with the determination of land take requirements. A preliminary business case for the project is expected to be completed this year, as is required by the infrastructure guidelines. Subject to approval, the project will then proceed through the necessary statutory processes, including a planning application. A major priority of the NDP, in line with the Government's investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road framework. This includes funding for minor improvement projects and safety schemes such as junction upgrades, road realignment and pavement renewal. I look forward to next week's allocation of national roads funding being published. I hope this will help to clarify the status of funding for roads in County Cavan. I take the Senator's point and hear him very clearly as regards the capital announcement last year and the need for infrastructure development to be progressed. That is why, in government, the party of which we are members asked for a stand-alone Department of infrastructure. We need to see projects like this fast-tracked on behalf of the residents. I thank the Senator for raising this matter this morning. --- 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/2026-02-12/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:37+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-12