Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Work is under way on another 24 with a combined length of 240 km including nearly another 180 km to motorway-dual carriageway standard. Another 19 with a combined length of more than 330 km including more than 280 km of motorway-dual carriageway standards are at tender stage.

I will not mention all the projects that have been delivered. The estimated cost of the national roads development programme mandated in the NDP increased in the early years of the NDP. That fact is well documented in reports dating back to 2002. However, action has been taken to strengthen cost estimation and control and, in recent years, most projects have been delivered within budget and ahead of contract completion dates.

The progress being made in implementing the upgrade programme is evident throughout the country. Anybody who talks to people, as I do when travelling through the country, will know that there is recognition of the investment programme in regional areas——

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