Mr. Michael Nolan:

On that, we a very aware of the issues and deficiencies on the N20. We get fed a lot of data from the Garda as soon as serious and minor accidents and fatalities happen. The existing N20 route has been identified as one of the pieces of legacy network that experiences a rate of head-on collisions resulting in fatalities higher than one would expect on a road of that type. From data we get directly from the Garda and Road Safety authority, we have identified, over a number of years, that the N20 is seriously deficient in terms of capacity and safety. Our legal remit is to maintain, upgrade, manage and modernise in order to have a safe and efficient road network. Therefore, safety and congestion are issues. The N20 is a very inefficient route, as the Deputy knows. The towns and links between them have serious capacity issues. Based on the data we are getting directly from the Garda and Road Safety Authority, we identify the route as a red route with regard to fatalities. We recognise the deficiencies and have to target them.