Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Smith. I was Chairman of this committee for a number of years. This issue has been discussed at every second or third meeting of the committee and the witnesses have our full support. We have gone on site visits. We must do all we can do politically on both sides of the Border to progress this because it is urgent.

It is absolutely correct to state the north-west road would be an economic driver. The North-West Gateway Initiative is great but it needs infrastructure. I live in Boyle, which is on the N4. When we look at a map of the island of Ireland, the M6 goes to Galway and the M1 goes to Dublin but the entire region, North and South, is devoid of motorways and dual carriageways. It needs this initiative. To be a little parochial, going from Sligo to Belfast, which is not that far, we have the N16 to the Border and then the A5. Some work has been done on it and €3 million was spent. There are 30 km in Leitrim and 7 km in Cavan to Belcoo but there seems to be nothing on the A5 between Belcoo and Enniskillen. If we are talking about cross-Border from the west of Ireland, this should be included. I am not taking away from the argument, but we need to do much more on these routes because they have been neglected. Deputy Smith rightly said Sligo has an institute of technology. There is much cross-Border co-operation. It is correct to state we need better development of these routes. The witnesses have our full support and I believe this support is cross-party.