George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour)

Okay. I was a councillor at this end of it as well and we are looking at about 18 months at this stage. I also want to talk about the impact on Rosslare Europort. This is not just a motorway in Wexford; it has a strategic role to play for the entire region. To give an example, prior to Brexit there were six sailings a week to mainland Europe but there are now 40 or more sailings, which has had a huge impact on traffic levels on the existing roadway from Oilgate to Rosslare. This is a vital piece of infrastructure that really needs to be pursued. Is there a guarantee of funding for this? I appreciate that we are looking at a cost in excess of €400 million. Is there a guarantee in that regard because we cannot go down a third route selection in a few years' time?

Finally, in relation to active travel, we have done some terrific work in Wexford. Our guests will probably be familiar with the Newtown Road scheme, which is quite close to my office. It almost adjoins Wexford Hospital and the Wexford County Council offices. It is a fabulous scheme. A few million euro was spent on it but I would say I have seen maybe half a dozen cyclists on it. Do not get me wrong, it is fabulous but I am just wondering if we are over-engineering our schemes in the context of what we are spending and the quality. It is a superb quality product that happens at the end of it. I think we are about to spend €1.2 million on the Wexford Hospital junction, as part of the active travel scheme, and run it across Wexford town. Wexford councillors at the time that I was on the council were campaigning vigorously for an active travel scheme from Wexford to Castlebridge, a large village about 3 miles outside Wexford town. It would have really enhanced the whole destination village concept, with people getting out walking or travelling on a bicycle to Castlebridge. However, the word that came back from the council was that all active travel projects had to be solely urban based. That was the policy and we could not spend money on a scheme like Wexford to Castlebridge because it had to spent in towns in urban areas. Is that the case? If so, can it be revisited? While the wonderful work in Newtown Road will, I am sure, eventually reap the dividends and rewards in terms of the number of people utilising it, at the moment that is not the case whereas Wexford to Castlebridge - there are other examples across the county - would certainly have attracted a lot of footfall and cyclists.