Dr. Brian McCann:

It is not just anecdotal evidence. Both Engineers Ireland in its state of infrastructure reports and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in its strategic investment plan for land transport have indicated the strong link between accessibility, investment and the economy. One of the main priorities is that not only do we need to target poorly serviced areas, we also need to front-load the investment because of the lack of past expenditure. As Deputy Troy mentioned, just over 1% of GDP is spent on infrastructure in this economy, which is much lower than the European average. Therefore, there is a need to front-load investment to effectively complete the national development plan.