Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am a believer in building for the future, not for today. Everybody is talking about balanced regional development but we will not get that if a company is struggling or a businessman is behind the 35X but when he is trying to get to Castlebar, Waterford, Donegal or anywhere in Ireland. I spoke to a person who met their boss from America and who hired a helicopter to bring them to Donegal because they were afraid that if they were on the road too long, the boss would pull the investment. It is about jobs in these areas. I do not know why we cannot make the decision. It is our business, as public representatives, to bring in something to ensure that we have dual carriageways. I am not looking for a motorway everywhere but a road on which one can overtake with some comfort and not be stuck behind something all day.

Under the transport regulations, it is illegal to drive a tractor on the hard shoulder so one has to stay on the road and block everything. Frustration builds and people take risks by overtaking at the wrong time, which leads to crashes. I do not know why, for the sake of the extra few euro it costs to purchase land compulsorily, we do not have a structure north, south, east and west to tie the A5 at Aughnacloy into the M1. We need a vision so that everyone from Donegal to the south of Wexford and Kerry has the opportunity to bring industry to their regions. I drive to Dublin every day and the Dublin-Galway road is the greatest road that was ever built. That is what gets people moving.