Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right in that it is a very significant amount of money for a single road project, although I would argue in this case that it should not be seen just as that road project. I have had the great privilege of being able to go round the counties. The next county I will visit tomorrow will be County Meath. I sat down with each council for several hours to get an understanding of how they delivered their part of the climate action plan. Anyone who has good knowledge of Donegal - I do not know if the Deputy has been up in the north west a lot - would recognise that current connectivity to Donegal is severely restricted and very unsafe. There are a number of road projects we are looking at in Donegal but take the road from Lifford to Letterkenny. It is not fit for purpose, safe or adequate at all, so we have to upgrade that, which we aim to do.

Similarly, anyone who drives on the A5 from Strabane to Aughnacloy and then connecting to Emyvale on a regular basis knows that it is not safe. There is a very high volume of traffic relative to the capacity of the road. I think ten people were killed on the A5 in one year alone. Going back to what I said at the start, we have to invest in safety measures as well as climate measures. The investment in the road has not been determined yet; it is just a flag. I referred to this at the press conference yesterday when it was being announced. It still has to go through the planning process in the North. There may be difficulties in that regard. I understand it may not get the full permission. That will be a matter for the planning authorities in the North. We recognise that is their purview. The level of allocation will depend on what the planning decision is there.