Mr. Fred Barry:

I am grateful for the opportunity to address the committee on the development of national roads in the Border region and links to Northern Ireland. Members will, no doubt, be acutely aware that the economic downturn in this part of the island has necessarily resulted in the cancellation or curtailment of many plans and projects that were to be funded from the public purse. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the national roads improvement programme, which has seen the NRA's funding reduced by 83% from peak levels, and halved between 2012 and 2013 alone. In real terms, the authority has had to deal with a reduction from a peak of more than €1.5 billion to approximately €280 million this year. It is a case of having to cut our cloth to measure and, consequently, our scope for undertaking major improvement works on our national road network, which comprises more than 5,500 km of carriageway, is now extremely limited. Unfortunately, this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future.

During the period from December 1999, when the British-Irish Agreement came into force, to 2010 the authority's national roads programme was largely focused, in line with Government policy, on the development of motorway links between Dublin and the major cities on the island, namely, Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and Belfast. The M1 motorway from Dublin to the Border was the first of these major interurban motorways to be completed in its entirety. Coupled with the improvements implemented by Transport Northern Ireland from the Border to Belfast, the construction of this high quality corridor linking the two principal cities on the island has brought significant time savings, reduced transport costs and enhanced safety for road users. An important element of the Dublin to Belfast project was the construction of the A1-M1 Newry to Dundalk dual carriageway scheme, which was jointly managed and was a model of co-operation between the authority, Transport Northern Ireland and the local authorities involved. I am pleased to say that, through our experience of working together on the A1-M1 project and through our contacts on other road schemes of mutual interest, the NRA and Transport Northern Ireland have established a close and positive working relationship.

The authority's major interurban programme in the period to 2010 has not been undertaken at the exclusion of other routes. We were able to complete a number of major schemes which have provided significant time saving and safety benefits for users of other road corridors, including the main cross-Border routes. Examples of these include the N2-A5 road, which saw the construction of bypasses to Carrickmacross, Monaghan and Castleblaney, as well as the motorway link from the M50 to the north of Ashbourne. The M3 Dublin-Ballyshannon route saw the completion of 60 km of new motorway from Clonee to the north of Kells, while the N4 Dublin-Sligo route, which connects to Enniskillen via the N16 and Donegal via the N15, also benefited from several major improvement schemes. Motorists can now enjoy the benefits of dual carriageway standards from Mullingar to Dublin.

As I noted in my opening remarks, given the fiscal constraints under which we currently operate there is limited scope for the authority to develop and implement the many national road improvement works required not only in Border regions but throughout the country. We are nevertheless progressing planning work on a number of important schemes so that we are in a position to commence construction as soon as funding allows. One such scheme is the section of the N4 between Castlebaldwin and Collooney and we expect the scheme proposal to go to An Bord Pleanála for approval shortly. The N14 Letterkenny-Lifford and the N15 Lifford-Stranorlar projects have been brought through the preliminary design stage but unfortunately we will not be in a position to bring the schemes concerned to compulsory purchase order stage until funding permits. Meanwhile, the bypasses at Belturbet, County Cavan, on the N3 have been partially open to traffic since August and the entire scheme is scheduled for completion early next year. In regard to the N14-A5 link, members will no doubt be aware of the position regarding the development of the A5 in Northern Ireland. In the event that the project proceeds, we will be engaging with our colleagues in Northern Ireland in the context of the State investment for the project.

I welcome members' questions and further exploration of the issues I have discussed or any other issues that they care to raise.