Ireland 2040: Significant developments on the cards for Co Cork
Cork gets 73 mentions in the NDP and 84 in the 2040 plan, while Kerry received 13 and nine respectively.
A planned €200m is to be set aside by the Government to provide new bus corridors, more efficient and reliable bus services and a network of park-and-ride sites in Cork City and its suburbs.
The NDP also mentions a new hospital and ambulances bases for Cork but does not provide further specific details.
The €900m Cork to Limerick motorway (M20) which was first mooted in 2005, is included in the plan, along with a planned but vital €100m upgrade of the Jack Lynch Tunnel/Dunkettle interchange and the building of the Macroom bypass.
In addition, a plan will be put in place to construct a new road which will link the Jack Lynch Tunnel with the M20, although no timescale was put on that project.
New relief roads are to be built in Dingle, Co Kerry, and to the west of Carrigaline.
On the education front, UCC is to get a new business school, additional student accommodation, Innovation Park, ICT services and a new dental school.
The Government has also signalled the Tyndall National Institute will be upgraded and expanded to keep it to the “forefront of new technologies and build on its successful industry engagement model in sectors such as health and life sciences, ICT, energy and agri-tech”.
Part of the €2bn national urban regeneration and development fund, contained in the NDP, will be spent to regenerate the Cork Docklands and Tivoli.
The NDP commits to the development of the Slí Chorca Dhuibhne walking route in Kerry.
It also proposes a €33m investment in water and sewerage schemes for Central Kerry that will see approximately 62,000 customers removed from the Environmental Protection Agency’s remedial action list.
Exchequer support is also planned to boost services in Kerry Airport.
The 2040 plan estimates the population of Metropolitan Cork will by then have grown from 209,000 to 315,000 and proposes a new light rail corridor to serve the area.
