Mr. Pat Doherty:

I thank the Minister for his presentation. There will almost certainly have to be a public inquiry in the North coming out of the consultations. It is difficult to determine how long that will take because it is done by an independent group and the Minister must consider that report and give his direction order. From consultation with the Minister, Mr. Danny Kennedy, MLA, and with the road engineers, things are moving apace. I will come in a minute to the north-west initiative, which might speed all that up again. When the A5 stops, will the N14 and N15 proceed in tandem, so that the link-up is completed in the same timescale from Letterkenny right on to the motorway? What proposals are there to develop the N2 from the Border to Ashbourne?

I am sure the Minister is aware there is a section in the Stormont House Agreement relating to the north west and a proposed initiative to revamp the north-west gateway, which would involve Irish Ministers and Executive Ministers. That is proposed to meet in May. It is also proposed that the A5 would be top of the list in terms of speeding up that whole proposal.

On Deputy Conlan's question, the A5 covers the whole section from Derry to Ballygawley and on to the Border. When the southern money was postponed, the Northern Executive thought it could go ahead with two of the three sections, namely, Derry-Strabane and Omagh-Ballygawley. The court case scuppered that. The plans are in place for the whole of the road, and the inquiry will include the whole road, as originally proposed. Perhaps the Minister could answer the questions about the N14 and N15 and the N2 and make some comment on the north west initiative.