Mr. Barry McElduff:

I thank the Minister for his presentation and I thank his officials. I want to talk about the A5. The prospect of Brexit and the problems to do with connectivity in the north west of Ireland, in the form of roads and telecommunications, present a double whammy for those living in the north west. I welcome Senator Craughwell's interest in hearing the views of business people in the Border area, not least Strabane, Lifford etc., and last night I had an engagement with leading business people from Omagh and Strabane, who wanted me to carry a request about the A5 into this meeting. The A5 is crucial for jobs, investment, road safety and for travel times pertaining to counties Tyrone, Donegal and Derry. I acknowledge the Taoiseach's recent expression of support at Queen's University, Belfast, Ollscoil na Ríona, Béal Feirste, when he restated the commitment of the Government to the A5 project. However, while the original financial commitment to the A5 was in the order of €400 million, it has been reduced to €75 million. I ask the Minister to work closely with the Taoiseach and other Ministers to ensure the €400 million commitment to the A5 is reinstated to give confidence to people in counties Tyrone, Donegal and Derry.