Mr. Peter Walsh:

In terms of the M28, as the Senator will be aware, we got approval of planning in March of this year. Cork County Council has issued notice to treat and it is proceeding with the land acquisition. There is a significant amount of advance contracts required for that project, not least archeology. It is quite an archeologically rich part of the country. We had always anticipated that there would be a significant number of advance contracts required between services, ground investigations and archaeology. That will continue to proceed over the next few years. It will take a number of years to get through those.

In terms of the next gateway for the public spending progression of the project, we anticipate that Cork County Council will have the documentation ready for submission at quarter 4 of next year. Approval to go to tender will be sought. The award of tender will be governed by available funding. That is the current situation, but the project is proceeding as quickly as it can.