Seán Conlan (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. It is important that we discuss the issue of cross-Border connectivity and the upgrading of our road structure. Unfortunately, over many years during the Troubles the road network was neglected and there is a serious need for capital funding to be provided to improve the cross-Border road network. The roads between Monaghan and Tyrone, Monaghan and Armagh and Monaghan and Fermanagh are all in a poor state.

In the earlier phases of the PEACE funding a small amount of money was made available to open the Border roads, but no funding has been forthcoming in the intervening years to upgrade those roads to a standard that people in the rest of the country would expect of roads connecting major towns. The main road between Monaghan and Armagh, linking Belfast, requires upgrading but there are currently no proposals to upgrade that road. There are no proposals to do further work on the road between the county towns of Monaghan and Enniskillen. We are discussing the N2 and A5 in particular but all of the Border roads linking population centres must be upgraded. Without that infrastructural development it will be very difficult to increase trade in the Border region and improve the connectivity which it is hoped will lead to increased job numbers and increased investment in the region, which badly needs such investment.

The region has been left behind over many years. Both Governments must focus clearly on developing it. A large number of young people have had to leave areas on both sides of the Border to go to Belfast, Dublin or elsewhere to seek employment. We must start to focus on keeping people in the region.

With regard to the N2 and A5, we met a deputation from Monaghan County Council yesterday. Its members asked that the Government consider providing money for a design phase for the N2-A5 and for the N2 in the Republic. I appreciate the financial constraints on the Government. I understand that the capital requirements were previously agreed in 2012 and that it will be 2017 or 2018 before they are revisited. I welcomed the fact that the Minister's predecessor provided money to upgrade the road from Monaghan to Emyvale to ensure that the road, which was in very dangerous condition, could be improved. If this project is not going ahead, it is important that, in the short term, we seriously consider providing funding for a bypass of Emyvale. The volumes of traffic going through Emyvale are very dangerous for the residents. I receive many communications from the residents that something must be done in the short term rather than the long term to alleviate the problem. It is a narrow street but large volumes of traffic are going through it daily. If anything could be done to advance a bypass or a short-term solution for Emyvale, it would be welcome. It would also shorten journey times into the north west. It is the last stretch of road that would have to be completed between Monaghan and the Border to deal with traffic management issues.

There should be a greater level of engagement between the Roads Service in Northern Ireland and the local authorities in the Republic to do something in the short term to develop our local and regional roads. There is a lack of correspondence or joined-up thinking about what is being done. To give an example, if one is in Enniskillen one will not see a signpost directing one towards Monaghan. If a tourist is in Fermanagh, they will not know how to get to Monaghan. They will be sent to Cavan. It is on simple things such as this that the local authorities in both the Republic and Northern Ireland could get together and develop simple strategies in order that people can travel around the region in a coherent fashion.

Many people in County Monaghan wish to see immediate upgrades of the local and regional roads structure. In the longer term, it is important that the north west has greater connectivity. I am concerned that, from what I have learned from studying what is happening in Northern Ireland, it appears that Northern Ireland has cancelled all proposals to develop the road between Aughnacloy and Ballygawley. The only sections of road that are proposed to be developed in the North are the road between Strabane and Derry and the road between Omagh and the Ballygawley roundabout. The Northern Ireland authorities appear to have abandoned any plans to develop the road between Strabane and Omagh. That is worrying for us. If our Government puts money into a road towards Derry and Donegal, what is being done by the British Government and the Northern Assembly to develop the road between Strabane and Omagh? I ask that we find out the long-term proposals in that regard before we decide to press ahead, because we need to know what firm proposals there are in respect of that road. Clearly, this refers to connectivity to the north west, and if there is no proposal to bypass Strabane or to bypass Omagh, what is the position?

Those are my main questions. I welcome the Minister's attendance. The issue of cross-Border connectivity is very important. It has not been developed in the past and, as capital becomes available over the next ten years, I hope it will be developed comprehensively.

I wish to make a final point. I have not yet seen a proposal to develop a motorway between Monaghan and Dublin.

We have dual carriageways and motorways across the A5 and down from Aughnacloy to Clontibret, but at the moment there is a single carriageway from Monaghan town to Carrickmacross to Ardee and the only place one will find a dual carriageway is where it links up with the M1 south of Ardee. There is no proposal for the National Roads Authority to develop the motorway from the M1 interchange to Monaghan. That should be looked at in the long run, because when capital becomes available, there is no point in having dual carriageway on the least populated section of the route and a single carriageway on the more populated sections.