Mr. Ken Spratt:

We are engaging with our colleagues in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the national development plan. We have our own sectoral strategy which is called the national investment framework for transport in Ireland, NIFTI. That sets out a number of priorities for us, and balanced regional development is one of them. We also have other priorities and none of them are ranked, so they are equal priorities. They are decarbonisation, protection and renewal, urban mobility of people and goods, movement of people and goods in the regions, and regional connectivity.

We also have a number of hierarchies which guide us on how we should invest. Those hierarchies are modal and investment. From a modal perspective, we try to prioritise active travel before we move to public transport, and before we move to private car. From an investment perspective, we try first to maintain, then optimise, then improve, and only following this only will we get into new investment. Having said that, balanced regional development is very important. It is one of the priorities and one of the things we have uppermost in our minds as we engage with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the review of the national development plan.