As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the planning, design and construction of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Public Spending Code and the necessary statutory approvals.
The current NDP was published in 2021, and the Innishannon bypass was not included in the list of new roads projects named in the Plan. As such, the advancement of the proposed scheme cannot be accommodated in the National Roads Programme at this point in time.