Tech giant Apple lobbied Tánaiste Micheál Martin and other Fianna Fáil politicians on transport infrastructure issues in Cork during a visit to the company’s Irish headquarters.
The discussions took place the day before Apple separately told Fine Gael Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke that “slow progress” on public infrastructure in the city was “hindering” its growth plans.
Mr Martin, his former Cork South Central constituency colleague, then minister for finance Michael McGrath, and Fianna Fáil Cork North Central TD Pádraig O’Sullivan visited Apple’s campus at Hollyhill on Cork’s northside on June 17th.
Correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that Apple flagged that the “agenda focus” would be on “public infrastructure”.
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Another document outlined how “discussion on local challenges and timeline for delivery of infrastructure”, including the proposed Northern Distributor Road in Cork, was on the agenda.
This road is described as “essential infrastructure for the current operations and access for existing employees in Hollyhill, particularly in light of current expansion plans.”
Briefing material on the BusConnects Cork plan for overhauling the bus service and the proposed Northern Distributor Road was prepared for the Fianna Fáil politicians.
It says that it was understood that a “route options” report for the Northern Distributor Road was nearing completion and “a public consultation on the emerging preferred option could take place in the autumn”.
The National Transport Authority recently confirmed to Mr O’Sullivan that the distributor road is now expected to go to public consultation in early 2025.
The Irish Times previously reported that a Department of Enterprise note of that meeting outlined how Apple relayed that: “The current roads network is not sufficient to enable 6,000 Apple employees on their daily commute and is also a struggle for the residents, with traffic and transport situation being so bad.” The meeting heard “an adequate bus service is also required”.
Apple made a Register of Lobbying declaration about the meetings with Fianna Fáil and Mr Burke listing the intended result as to “communicate the importance of key transport infrastructure and links, and get an understanding of related timelines and progress”.
Mr Martin’s spokesman said of his engagement with the company: “Apple provided a tour of the facilities and gave an overview of the positive growth of the company in the city.
“Apple raised the issue of the Northern Distributor Road project and outlined their own plans to provide buses and cycling facilities for their employees.”
He said: “It was a constituency event, and no minutes were taken of the meeting.”
Apple said it has been in Cork for more than four decades, that the majority of its employees in Ireland are based there, and construction of a new office building on the campus for 1,300 staff is under way.
The Department of Transport said it “is aware of the concerns of Apple and of residents regarding the pace of public transport infrastructure development in Cork and would like to see things progress as soon as possible”.
It said that a target date for the completion of the Northern Distributor Road will not be set until after the public consultation process concludes.
There is an expectation that a preliminary business case for BusConnects Cork will be submitted to Government early in 2025.
It said “good progress” has been made on delivering key projects in the Cork Metropolitan Transport Strategy including the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme, BusConnects Cork and Cork Light Rail.
The department added: “The various projects will be developed in line with planning approvals and the availability of funding.”
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