Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising a number of points. First, I will deal the capital spend and the percentage we are investing in regional and local roads. Out of €10 billion programme that I announced yesterday afternoon, some €2.4 billion is for regional and local roads.

When I was drawing up the announcement that was made yesterday, I first gave priority to rebalancing our expenditure in favour of making sure that over time, we have enough money to maintain what we have. I then looked to identify a small number of additional new roads projects that will make a big contribution to the three priorities I have outlined all year - removing bottlenecks to access to ports, airports and job creation, facilitating regional connectivity and dealing with the issue of congestion.

I appreciate what the Deputy is saying regarding his disappointment about the failure to include the road he has mentioned but I had to make choices all over the country in regard to what we could and could not go ahead with. While I accept his disappointment about the failure to make provision for a route through Killarney, I remind him that we have met other priorities in his county. For example, we have recognised the need to support the road in Dingle at some point in the future. We gave a very clear commitment yesterday to the development of the road between Baile Bhúirne and Macroom. The development of the road in question, in the interests of improving connectivity between County Kerry and Cork city, is a long-standing issue that Deputy Griffin has been raising with me for well over a year. We have not been able to do everything that people would like us to do. That is a reflection of the need to continue to make choices about how we spend the money that is available now and in the future.

I would like to respond to the points that the Deputy made regarding tourism. He spoke about the whole idea of reinvesting back into the development of the Wild Atlantic Way. We are already working hard to do that. Earlier this month, the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, outlined details of a new programme to develop between 145 and 150 information points that are located all along the Wild Atlantic Way. This is being done to try to provide better experiences for those who visit the locations in question. We now have plans in place for four signature discovery points. This work is under way. Over time, we will continue to upgrade the experiences that exist along the Wild Atlantic Way, based on the money we have at our disposal. The Deputy made a point about infrastructure along the Wild Atlantic Way. We have not been able to make progress with any additional roads in County Kerry other than the two major projects I have already mentioned. We are looking to make progress elsewhere along the route. For example, we are seeking to make a contribution to the route along the N59 in County Donegal.

The Deputy raised the question of hackney licences with me in the Dáil last week. I understand the NTA has been in contact with Deputies on this matter in the last year. I know that people want the area of knowledge to be below the county level. However, the NTA is strongly of the view that this would give rise to many other difficulties. For example, there might be people who are very well qualified to drive within a particular cluster of communities but are not qualified to drive beyond that. It is for that reason that the NTA is of the view that at the moment, we should not change the licensing regime, which I support.

The Deputy also made a point about the effect of the abolition of milk quotas on regional roads. I remind him that €2.4 billion of the €4.9 billion we are investing in the maintenance of existing roads will be spent on regional and local roads.