Government 'speaking out of both sides of its mouth' on Cork-Limerick M20 motorway

Donegal TD Thomas Pringle also told the Dáil that the mica working group report is "a sham" and homeowners were right to reject it

Sinn Féin's Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said the main road between the second and third cities in the State is in parts, "no better than a boreen".

The Government has been accused of "speaking out of both sides of its mouth" on the delivery of the Cork to Limerick motorway and other projects in the National Development Plan (NDP).

The €165 billion NDP, announced this week, commits €35 billion in spending on transport up to 2030.

But members of the Opposition have hit out at the revised NDP, with Sinn Féin's Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire claiming the plan is yet "another glossy brochure" filled with "projects running years late, projects that are running massively over cost, projects that have been announced and re-announced for decades."

Dubbing the NDP a "wish list", Labour leader Alan Kelly said: "I've never seen a launch of a National Development Plan, which aims to bring certainty to projects, actually create more uncertainty."

Mr Kelly also suggested that transport projects would have to be approved twice by Minister Eamon Ryan - once on climate and once by the National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland (NIFTI).

"NIFTI will be quite shifty," he told the Dáil.

Labour's Alan Kelly says the NDP brings more uncertainty on projects. He says proposed transport projects would have to be proofed twice - once on climate, once by National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland. Min Coveney says the Nifti process was good governance. pic.twitter.com/8zbzBVaEZ9

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 5, 2021

Responding, Minister Simon Coveney said the NDP will provide "funding certainty and policy certainty for the decade ahead".

However, he was pressed on the Limerick to Cork motorway by Mr Ó Laoghaire, who said the main road between the second and third cities in the State is in parts, "no better than a boreen".

"It is unsafe, it is dangerous and it certainly won't drive economic growth in its current State."

Mr Ó Laoghaire said the only people who don't agree with a motorway between Cork and Limerick are those who have "never been near the current road". Mr Coveney said the Government is "absolutely committed" to delivering a quality motorway between both cities.

"I think that Ireland's second and third cities need to be linked with a proper road corridor, but also we need to look at other alternatives in terms of a rail system that's fit for purpose that will take people off roads."

He said the truth is the M20 is an "enormous project" that will take time to plan and develop and the Government was being "honest" on that.

"Any piece of infrastructure of that scale has got to go through a planning process and permitting process, an environmental impact assessment and all of the other things that need to happen, route selection hasn't been finalised yet," Mr Coveney said.

Separately, Donegal TD Thomas Pringle told the Dáil that the mica working group report is "a sham" and homeowners were right to reject it. Referring to a letter sent to Opposition spokespeople by Darragh O'Brien seeking their views on Monday night he told the Dáil that the minister has never been interested in their opinion and the letter was "disingenuous bulls**t".

Mr Pringle was warned over his language by the Ceann Comhairle.

Mr Coveney confirmed that the details of the redress scheme are now "unlikely" to be ready before the Budget next week.