Road Projects Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-14 ============================================================ Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this very important matter and again for being a very strong champion and voice for the people of Newbridge. She is quite right in terms of the growth, the schools, the access and the egress. I apologise that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, cannot take this Commencement matter. The Senator referenced the refusal by An Coimisiúin Pleanála in respect of the Great Connell strategic housing development. The Senator's contribution and question is in relation to that second bridge, which links Great Connell Road and Athgarvan Road over the River Liffey. The Senator is right. The comment she made that there will be a second application is a good one. It is important that we, as a Department, working with Kildare County Council, reaffirm, as the Senator has said, our support for the project. This is about a town that has grown exponentially, as the Senator said. It has changed from when I was a student in Maynooth to today. It is no longer just a county town: it is the hub. The Senator is right that the Department of Transport is committed to this. As she knows, Kildare County Council submitted a primary appraisal application, I think in 2023, to the Department of Transport on the orbital relief route scheme. Senator O'Loughlin has articulated that what we need to do in planning and transport with the Department of local government is to have traffic flowing in our urban towns. This is an example of it successfully done in Kildare. In the case of this project, the business case was developed by the council to substantiate the need for the scheme. The Department made an allocation last year in support of the preparation of a business case for the Newbridge southern orbital route. The updated business case was submitted by the council for review last year and it was ultimately approved. Kildare County Council obtained planning approval for the remaining section of the scheme in 2023 and it is currently in advanced discussions with landowners regarding land acquisition. In 2026, €200,000 has been allocated to the scheme. The recent decision of An Coimisiún Pleanála is being reviewed by Kildare County Council. In turn, the Department of Transport is also liaising directly with Kildare County Council on the matter. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I are committed in our regional and local roads programme to protecting, enhancing and upgrading the existing road network. While the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is a matter for the local authority, the Department will ensure we have funding prioritised to see our roads network enhanced. That is why the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, announced an Exchequer investment of €718 million for our regional and local roads earlier this year. This will facilitate an increase in funding allocation of €26 million this year for road protection and renewal works. It is important that we work together on this project. Under the strategic grant programme, the Department makes decisions on a case-by-case basis. Working with local authorities all projects will be considered. They must comply with our infrastructure guidelines. Kildare County Council received €20 million for maintenance and improvement last year, of which over €19 million was allocated to road protection and renewal. The points the Senator made this afternoon are good ones and we must take cognisance of them. We need to remember that Ireland's road density is the seventh highest in the European Union. The volume of traffic is putting pressure on towns like Newbridge, Kildare, Maynooth and others in County Kildare. The points the Senator has made make eminent sense and I look forward to bringing her comments back to the Department. --- 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/2026-04-14/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-14