Mr. Peter Walsh:

Yes, if it can be taken as an opinion. There is a very significant difference between a project that has planning approval and one that has not got to that stage of development. If a project has planning approval, it will attract and require more support. That is not an insignificant stage in its development. In many cases, large projects would already have been the subject of a memo to Cabinet and would have full Cabinet consideration and support. We had that in the case of the Galway city ring road and the N21-N69 bypass. The status that planning approval gives to a project should not be underestimated.

We are confident we can progress projects within the ten years of the plan. I did not want to come before the committee and give the impression that everything was going at full tilt within the envelope of €5.1 billion. I believed it was important that the early years of constraint were understood.