Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I have a series of questions on projects across the Border and in the north west. Prior to the general election, a serious commitment was made by the Government to a motorway from Dublin to Derry and on to Letterkenny. Commitments like these were all the rage prior to the general election. The Taoiseach arrived in a helicopter a week before the election to announce that a motorway from Dublin to Derry would be built in the lifetime of the next Government. The Minister's colleague, Deputy Mary Coughlan, spoke about the possibility of a motorway or a dual carriageway right up to the north west. I am somewhat disappointed that the only cross-Border project to which the Minister's statement refers is the M1 from Dublin to Belfast. There is no mention of Derry, Letterkenny and a motorway from Dublin. This week I put down a question to the Minister on proposals for the M2 from Emyvale to Dublin, but the Ceann Comhairle ruled it out of order and said it was a matter for the NRA.

Rather than being critical for the sake of it, I would like to be as constructive as possible. I would like to ask the Minister questions on co-operation and communication between him and his colleagues across the Border. There is much talk about cross-Border co-operation and initiatives, but I cannot get access to any documentation or communiques between the Department of Transport and its counterpart across the Border. Therefore, I am highly critical of the work that has not taken place and of the opportunity being lost currently. There is collective goodwill on both sides of the Border, across the local authorities and at official level within Departments. The Minister needs to up the heat by mapping out some kind of plan. Currently, he is only giving verbal commitments, which are pie in the sky. There is no tangible evidence to convince me or my electorate that we will see a dual carriageway or motorway from Dublin to Derry.

There is a very proactive, forward looking road design office in County Donegal, which has a lot of plans ready. One plan is for the Strabane to Manorcunningham roundabout, which is ready and awaiting funding. These projects will be realised if the commitment is there.

The railway debate has come up quite often in Donegal these days, especially in light of an increase in rail usage. A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann was talking on Radio 1 last Monday morning on the passenger increase from Dublin to Sligo. A Cork Deputy also mentioned the increase in train transportation earlier today. What plans are in place to roll-out a railway infrastructure in the north west? There is no momentum behind a roll-out of railway infrastructure from Derry to Letterkenny. In the week before the general election the Taoiseach promised a motorway between Dublin and Derry. Why are we not forward thinking in planning a railway infrastructure plan along with such a motorway? Such joined up thinking was not alluded to before the general election.

While I was critical of the Local Government (Roads Function) Bill, I am confident it is a sign of a broader vision in not just looking at national primary routes. We have an excellent regional infrastructure of primary and secondary roads that should be linked up. Stand-alone projects are not needed and the Department needs to have joined up thinking. Will the Department tap into the collective goodwill among officials in the NRA and local authorities?

While we can debate the need for dual carriageways and motorways, this week I received correspondence from a tourism provider on the Inishowen peninsula on the lack of road signage there. It is an issue affecting many areas to which the Department must give serious consideration.

On today's Order of Business I tried to raise the commissioning of a report from Deloitte & Touche in 2002 on Coastguard stations. Before the Minister for Transport leaves the Chamber, will he answer some questions on it? The then Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, endorsed the report's recommendation to maintain the Valentia and Malin Head stations as the two major centres for the Coastguard.

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