Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister and his staff for attending. Nearly every year, there is a supplement. The €162 million is being divided up, with public transport and road improvements receiving huge extra amounts of money. Where do we get this money? Is it purely from the lottery or the sale of assets? Can the Minister explain how we have dug up this money? With regard to road improvement and maintenance funds, will any of it go to local authorities? We have many issues with local and regional roads and local roads have a huge number of potholes that have never been tackled. Meath is one of the worst in the country. Will any of this address that point or does it apply to the maintenance of main roads, the paths and road surfaces? If any money is given to local authorities, we have issues with ramps that were destroyed over the past number of years. In the past, Dublin City Council got a stimulus to deal with it. Will any of this funding make its way to that end?

Newlands Cross is an example of how a project has worked well. We can now travel from one end of the country to another without stopping, which is fantastic. I have heard massive reports about this project. There must be a clap on the back for the people who pushed the project for so long. With regard to the €110 million public transport investment, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are getting a fair amount. They are getting badly needed new buses. Irish Rail needs a major stimulus in the replacement of stock. I do not see a real improvement apart from minor improvements in Irish Rail. Perhaps the Minister can elaborate on this point.

Last year, the Road Safety Authority, RSA, received €3.7 million and last year it received €6.5 million. The Minister referred to savings due to the RSA raising finance. Can the Minister explain how the RSA managed to do that?

There were reports of the Minister seeking funding from Europe for two areas, including for metro north. In the past, the Minister indicated that metro north was dead and buried. Has there been an attempt made to renew it? It was mentioned that this might be something the Minister will look to Europe for. Perhaps he can quash this idea if it is untrue.

There is major debt in Irish Rail but we must invest more and see if we can improve the structure and the standard of trams.