Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

As the Deputy knows, while all of the routes are now being finalised, many of them had gone through the planning process in 2005 and the ones that had not, namely, the M1 and M4, have service areas. It would be unfair to characterise the NRA as not being in favour of providing the service areas as it certainly is in favour of it and it understands the arguments in this regard. It is a matter of coming up with the ways and means of providing service areas without taking money away from road building projects.

A number of private developers have obtained planning approvals for offline facilities, including at the M7 Mayfield junction at Monasterevin and in a number of locations on the M6 and M8, including at Kilcullen, as well as a number of others in various locations. In response to both Deputies, the NRA has been asked to try to come up with a formula that will allow these to be built.

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