Transport funding plan hailed as ‘historic for Cork’

The Government’s updated National Development Plan contains a commitment of more than €1bn for the Cork area commuter rail network, more than €1bn for BusConnects Cork, and between €200m-€500m for the Cork northern distributor road.

Further Cork commitments include more than €1bn for the Cork to Limerick N/M20 road; €100m-€250m for the Castlemartyr and Killeagh bypasses; €250m-€500m for the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy motorway, and €100m-€250m for the Great Island connectivity scheme.

The National Development Plan review has been billed by the Government as the largest and most significant capital injection in Ireland’s economy in the history of the State. The review, which was approved yesterday by Cabinet, commits €22.3bn to a range of transport options over the next five years.

An additional allocation of €2bn from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund will support the development of MetroLink, bringing the total National Development Plan exchequer investment in transport to €24.3bn between 2026 and 2030.

Welcoming Cabinet approval, Fine Gael TD for Cork South Central Jerry Buttimer, who is also minister of state at the Department of Transport, said there was currently a pipeline of transport projects costing between €6bn-€9bn in major Cork transport projects.

He said those projects were now advancing through the Government’s capital programme, and represented the largest multi-year investment in Cork’s transport network in State history.

“This is a historic moment for Cork,” he said. “With between €6bn and €9bn now moving through the system, we are delivering the largest transformation of Cork’s transport infrastructure ever undertaken. These projects — BusConnects, commuter rail, the N/M20, the M28 and a series of key regional upgrades — will shape Cork’s future for generations.”

Labour Party councillor Peter Horgan, who is the chairperson of the Cork City Council transport committee, said that while the plan represented significant investment in road and public transport, benefits were not likely to be felt for several years to come.

“People will look at this document and initially will think the problems are solved, but the reality is commuters won’t see benefits of this until well beyond 2030, according to the document itself,” he said.

“The only project making serious inroads is the commuter rail project, but that does nothing for the southside of the city.”