Mr. Michael Nolan:

It is down to what the economy can afford. Maybe it is down to what the economy cannot afford not to be happening in view of the growing population. The national planning framework which is to come out at the end of this year or early next year will put an emphasis on re-balancing regional growth and sharing the benefits of a rising economy. We realise that we are running out of schemes to present to the Department for any new capital investment plan. The Taoiseach mentioned that we should be looking at ten year rather than five year capital investment plans. We have not provided a graphic to illustrate the life cycle of a major project. It takes between five and 13 years to bring a scheme from conception through to opening and operation.