Nearly €1bn to be spent on Cork housing and infrastructure projects

The council aims to use its housing budget to build affordable homes and social housing, and purchase homes from private owners and developers. File picture: Larry Cummins

Nearly €1bn is to be spent on major housing and infrastructure projects between now and 2023 in Co Cork.

Some of it is being delivered due to an innovative deal the county council made to borrow money directly from Europe.

In total, €998.06m is to be spent on projects, the biggest being housing (€406.21m) and roads (€380.42m).

The council aims to use its housing budget to build affordable homes and social housing, and purchase homes from private owners and developers.

Investment in roads includes the upgrade of the Ringaskiddy-Cork route, the Macroom bypass, upgraded Carrigtwohill-Midleton dual carriageway, advancing the completion of the Bandon bypass, and the western relief road in Carrigaline.

Regional and local road schemes

Council bosses said investment in regional and local road schemes will bring "greater economic resilience" to towns and villages by addressing infrastructure deficits.

Further investment is to be made in upgrading its extensive fleet of vehicles, many of which are used for roads projects.

The council has set aside €163m in support of its climate adaptation strategy; €52m is to be spent on making public lights more energy-efficient; and €52m will be invested in walkways and greenways, which are part of broader active travel measures and sustainable transport projects.

Public amenities

With a greater emphasis on public amenities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the capital programme proposes an €82m investment in public realms, libraries, amenity parks, and playgrounds.

The council took the decision to look to Europe “so we could progress a range of projects ourselves that we know are necessary". 

Council chief executive Tim Lucey said the local authority signed a “framework agreement” with the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank for an initial €68m loan and expected to get roughly the same amount again in the next couple of years to help fund major projects.

Mr Lucey said as many of the projects are being progressed through the stages of design, they will also require central Government funding, “but [the loan from Europe] positions us in a better place". 

However, even with the borrowings from Europe, the report delivered to councillors includes a caveat. It states: "It must be noted that the global pandemic will make the funding of this investment difficult as revenues have been affected at a local, national, and global level, therefore this programme is subject to change as it is reviewed over the coming months and years."

Councillors yesterday reacted angrily to an independent report which stated that the county gets less funding per head of capita and square kilometre than many other local authorities in the country.

Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath, whose brother Michael is the public expenditure and reform minister, welcomed the three-year capital project, especially the investment in upgrading existing playgrounds and building new ones.

'Ambitious programme for housing and roads'

“This is a very ambitious programme for housing and roads. It will be a huge financial boost for the county,” Fine Gael councillor John Paul O'Shea said.

Fianna Fáil councillor Gillian Coughlan said too little funding was set aside for water projects and Fine Gael councillor Kevin Murphy agreed with her. He said Irish Water was now in charge of most of such projects and maintained there was far better delivery of them when local authorities held the purse strings.

Fine Gael councillor Gerard Murphy said a tremendous amount of work had gone into the three-year plan and it had been prudent to source money from Europe “at a very low interest rate".