MAI N FE ATURE
R EGIONA L ECONOM IC GR OW TH IS DEPENDENT ON CONNEC TING THE NDP DOT S The only way to improve inter-regional connectivity is to accelerate the rollout of the regional roads network. Barry McCall speaks with leading infrastructure sector figures about sustainable development and the key issues affecting project delivery at this time.
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peaking on the Climate Bill in the Seanad in late June, Green Party leader and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan made some comments which would have sent shudders down the collective spine of the Irish construction sector. Declaring that the days of motorways “going out and out and out” were over, Minister Ryan said the government would be building bypasses to save dying town centres instead of motorways in future. “The switch has been made, and it’s agreed in Government,” Minister Ryan told the Seanad. “We have to do a National Development Plan (NDP) review. And we have to start aligning our capital investment with our climate plans. The key changes will firstly be in terms of roads. I think we’ll be switching to large numbers of bypasses because that actually helps us on the climate front.” That throwaway remark in relation to
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the NDP review will be a cause for further disquiet in the industry. The fact that the final shape of the NDP is still in play at this juncture will at the very least cast a shadow of uncertainty over the sector. Many had hoped that with the conclusion of the consultation process earlier this year, the review would have been effectively complete by now, with minimal tweaks made as a result. This may no longer be the case.
BALANCING REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
While Minister Ryan argued that bypasses would be better than motorways for restoring life to regional towns, this view is certainly not universally shared. Conor McCarthy, Director, Jennings O’Donovan, and the immediate past president of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (ACEI) comments: “It can’t just be all focused on the east of the