Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter on the Adjournment. I deplore the Government decision to halt the building of 78 major road schemes, including the N2 Dublin to Derry primary route from Clontibret, County Monaghan, to the border with County Tyrone. This involves the essential bypass of the village of Emyvale, which is vital primarily for safety reasons, as the volume of traffic passing along the 8 km stretch between Monaghan town and the Border at Moy Bridge through the village remains life threatening.

This latest roads debacle is another example of the gross mismanagement of Fianna Fáil-led Governments over the past decade and more. Through the early years of the Celtic tiger, the Government presided over a scandalous situation where contractors for major roads were allowed to run hugely over budget and well over time at massive expense to the State. There clearly was a massive rip-off by some of those so engaged. Eventually the Government got its act together to some extent and major road projects were finally required to be completed on time and on tighter budgets, following a massive uproar about the waste of public money. Now in straitened economic circumstances, the Government wants to halt these important and essential projects.

The news that the road scheme I have cited, along with 77 others, has been halted with immediate effect will be greeted with dismay by many people. The most disappointed, undoubtedly, will be the people of Monaghan town, north Monaghan and Emyvale who suffer daily the real dangers and many difficulties associated with traffic along this route. They have been promised by Government on several occasions that this work would be carried out. This road scheme is essential to the entire economy of County Monaghan and the wider Border region, as it is an essential piece of transport infrastructure. It must be remembered this is the crucial link between Derry and the north west and Dublin.

What presentation is this to the people of Six Counties, as we seek to encourage people of traditional Unionist outlook of the benefits of an all-Ireland approach to our shared needs in the future? The first introduction to many driving south is this outrageously dangerous stretch of roadway. Where stands the planned co-operation with the Department of the Environment in the Six Counties? The N2 upgrade was to link up with the A5 upgrade north of the Border and the Government was to make a significant contribution to the works in Counties Tyrone and Derry. Where stands that commitment?

The Government's decision not only in regard to this north Monaghan project but all 78 projects across the State is ill-conceived as it will lead directly to increased redundancies and will be another blow to the already depressed construction industry. I call on Fianna Fáil and the Green Party to reverse this retrograde move in the interest of motorist safety, in the first instance, with jobs also much to the fore of my thoughts as I make this case. It is not only a question of job creation but of sustaining those who still happen to have employment in roadmaking works around the country. These projects were a lifeline for many of those people who moved from one scheme to another. This is the most short-sighted proposition that this Government has put forward in recent times.

We do not need to close the door on infrastructural development but to realise that this is the optimum time for making real investment in infrastructure, recognising that money is cheap, that there is a readily available labour force willing to take up job opportunities in construction projects. Now is the time to move on with these development projects, to sustain jobs, create work and be in a position throughout the island to avail of new opportunities that will present themselves when the economy turns, sooner hopefully than many suggest. There has been a real failure to invest, particularly in the Border counties, the midlands and the west. This is another indication of the Government's failure to recognise the importance of the Border counties and the link to the northwest of the island, counties Donegal, Derry and Tyrone.

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