Fine Gael TD for Limerick, Patrick O’Donovan raised the future of Co. Limerick’s national road network at the Oireachtas Committee on Transport which this week met with the CEO of the National Roads Authority, Fred Barry.
Patrick O’Donovan raised a number of specific issues including the need for certainty of landowners along the proposed Adare bypass, the need to prioritise the routes from Limerick to Kerry, Cork and Waterford, connectivity to the port of Foynes and delays being experienced by subcontractors in getting paid by principle contractors on main national roads projects across the country.
Deputy O’Donovan said that there were a huge number of challenges on the network in Co. Limerick and that these issues were now made even more difficult with reduced amount of funding available. However he said that there need to be an acknowledgement that Limerick’s place as a key urban centre outside of Dublin together with the fact that the County has some of the most important strategic routes from a tourism and commercial point of view, needs to be included in future spending plans for the national roads network.
After the meeting, Patrick O’Donovan said that he would meet with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to discuss the issues that had been raised at the Committee and he would be continuing to work to ensure that Limerick’s National Road Network is prioritised into the future.