Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I echo my colleague's comments and thank Mr. O'Rourke for a very comprehensive overview of what he sees as being his role. Obviously, he will face many challenges. It appears that during the coming months he will primarily be engaged in dealing with the merger.

Is Mr. O'Rourke in a position to provide an indication of the funding requirements in respect of the maintenance of our national network? Many present will recall that one of the most damaging aspects of the previous recession in the 1980s was the lack of money available for road maintenance and the fact that it took in the region of ten to 15 years to correct the position because our roads had deteriorated to such an enormous degree. Our climate, as much as anything else, is responsible for causing the erosion of our roads. Certainly regional and local roads were affected by erosion in the 1980s and I am sure the position regarding our new motorways is no different. Is Mr. O'Rourke in a position to outline the budgetary requirements and can he indicate from where the moneys required will come?

I appreciate that the new organisation will be dependent on the Minister and general Government policy in this regard and that it will only be able to operate on the basis of the money available to it. However, I am sure Mr. O'Rourke is going to exert pressure on the Government and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in order to ensure that as much money as is required will be forthcoming. In that context and in light of his own background, will Mr. O'Rourke indicate the role he believes public private partnerships will play in respect of the future of the new agency? In recent weeks the ESB, with which Mr. O'Rourke was previously employed, issued a bond which was oversubscribed to an enormous degree. This suggests that investors who may have stayed away from Ireland in recent years are returning in droves in order to invest their money here. Is Mr. O'Rourke of the view that this may herald something of a change?

Like Deputy Ellis, I am a strong supporter of metro north and am of the view that it is a shame that it has been shelved. I would like to believe that when the merger takes place, the new organisation will press the Government to come up with funding. I understand that the Government must fund a certain element of any PPP. When the Minister shelved the project, he indicated that there was no private investment available. However, it appears that the position in this regard has changed.