Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The point being made by Deputy Fitzpatrick, Councillor Minogue and I is that there is no guarantee that TII will have the money into the future. If it does not have money, this bypass will not be built. TII has the money now to build it, notwithstanding the issues and the point about consultation. Consultation is very important. It goes to the heart of what everybody here wants to happen. It is the job of public representatives to represent their communities and to make submissions to TII but that does not mean that TII should not proceed having taken into account all the other issues. The issues not iterated in Mr. Walsh's arguments are the impact of the ongoing air pollution in Ardee, the thousands of cars delayed every day and the health of young children. As mentioned by Councillor Minogue, approximately 1,700 children in Ardee travel to and from school every day along the same route as hundreds of lorries and HGVs emitting fumes. TII did not consider those issues. I am not being critical of Mr. Walsh. Rather, I am making the point that those issues were not considered.