Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Barry and his colleague, Mr. Nolan. The landscape of our national routes has changed dramatically over the past decade. The establishment of the National Roads Authority was pivotal to the co-ordination of the work undertaken. Many people in our area of public life refer to every statutory and semi-State agency as a quango but the NRA is not a quango. It has been extremely important to the development of necessary infrastructure. I am not being parochial if I dwell on two or three issues because I represent two of the Southern Ulster counties. The first issue is the N2 from Clontibret to the Border at Aughnacloy, where it links with the A5.

A 400 m wide corridor has been identified for this in County Monaghan. The next stage is preliminary design stage one, which would reduce the width of the corridor and give some certainty to landowners in that region. It is a cause of concern to people, particularly farmers who may see their holdings bisected. My understanding, based on information from Monaghan County Council, is that it would cost €1.5 million to advance the project to the next stage. We fully appreciate what Mr. Barry said about the funding challenges but we must put in place the plans, proposals and advanced preparatory work as much as possible. The Monaghan county manager, Mr. David Fallon, and the then mayor made a very strong presentation here along with their counterparts from North of the Border on the critical role this development can play in development of the north east and the north west of our country and the Chairman's own county.

Some preliminary design work on the Cavan-Dundalk route is nearing completion, particularly the section from Cootehill to Shercock, Carrickmacross and Dundalk. The designers have rightly and prudently segmented the route into short stand-alone projects, which will cost approximately €2 million each. Thankfully, there is a fair bit of commerce and economic activity along that route. It is important for products going to Greenore Port and Dundalk. I am anxious that this project be advanced through planning. I appreciate the funding pressures, but Cavan, Monaghan and Louth County Councils have sought funding for the further advancement of the planning process through strategic regional and local road grants or through the specific road improvement grant schemes. It gives the opportunity to do segments of the route.

The N54 Cavan-Clones-Monaghan Town route is of particular concern to the people of Monaghan. There is a huge amount of traffic on that road and much traffic between the two general hospitals in Cavan and Monaghan. We talk about developing east-west. The route connecting Belfast, Monaghan, Cavan, Athlone and Galway encompasses different sections of the M1, A3, N12, N54 and N55. If further development and preparatory work can be done on that route, it would be using major sections of our road that are already upgraded or new routes. Those routes are extremely important for the economic and social development of that Border region. This would enhance the east-west economic development we want to see.