National Development Plan allocates funds for major Munster road, flood relief and educational projects

“That’s the type of spirit that will inform the approach,” he said.

He described the €185m Cork commuter rail plan, which proposes a rail link from Mallow, through Cork city, to Midleton, and the Cork light rail project, running from Ballincollig to Mahon, as among the many exciting proposals proposed for the southern region.

“It’s up to the cities now to get competitive and get bidding for resources for those light rail projects and there will be a value for money metric applied to those competitive bids from the cities,” he said.

He also said the government is committed to delivering the M20 Cork to Limerick project, which is currently undergoing assessment.

“That will be progressed during the lifetime of this plan. It is an important corridor in respect of economic development of that part of the country,” he said.

And while some smaller bypass or relief road projects have not been mentioned in the NDP, Mr Martin said there is flexibility to facilitate them - he name-checked the Castlemartyr relief road - if other projects are delayed.

“We want a menu there that we can go to, for shovel-ready schemes, if there are delays elsewhere,” he said.

Billions were pledged today for major road, public transport, housing, health, education and cultural projects in the regions to facilitate what Transport Minister Eamon Ryan described as “balanced, compact and low carbon development” over the next decade or so. Minister for Public Expenditure, Michael McGrath described the NDP as “the largest and greenest capital investment plan” in the history of the State.

There are seven major regional transport projects planned in the south, including:

• the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway, where corridor options and rail alternatives are being examined. The preferred corridor is expected to be unveiled soon;
• the N21/N69 Limerick to Adare to Foynes Road where work is progressing to facilitate delivery of the Adare bypass element of first, in time for the Ryder Cup in 2027;
• the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy road, where main works are expected in 2024;
• the N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom road, where construction is due to be complete in 2023;
• the M8/N25 Dunkettle Interchange, which is expected to be finished in early 2024;
• the Mallow Relief Road, where the assessment of route options is ongoing;
• and the Listowel bypass, where tender documents for the construction project are being finalised.

There is a commitment to the delivery of the long-stalled Cork event project, to fund major upgrades to Cork's Crawford Gallery, to develop Limerick’s Opera site, and to fund four transport projects to open Waterford’s northern quays for development.

There are also commitments to deliver dozens of flood relief schemes in the region, including in Midleton, Skibbereen and Tralee, to fund upgrades to third-level institutions including UCC, MTU, IT Tralee, IT Carlow, LIT, and WIT, to build wastewater treatment plants in Waterford, Clonmel, Carlow, Lahinch, Limerick, Mallow and Midleton among others. 

The plan is also committed to deliver an extension of Cork city's water supply scheme to Midleton, to deliver a new pumping station at Ballyvolane on the city's northside to facilitate massive housing growth earmarked for Monard, and to incorporate a new reservoir west of Cork into the city water scheme to provide storage for the western suburbs.

Project Ireland 2040 envisages the population of Cork city and suburbs to grow by between 105,000 and 125,000 people (50-60%) by 2040, by between 47,000 and 56,000 in Limerick, and by between 30,000 and 35,000 people in Waterford.

The government wants 50% of new city housing in each of the three cities to be within their existing footprint.