Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I agree that there was over-specification. If one examines the files, one will find much of it was politically driven by politicians and Ministers who decided a motorway was needed, even though a dual carriageway might have done. Many State companies were put under pressure by the previous Government to build bigger and greater things than were necessary. I do not share that kind of "if you build it, they will come" view. The specification has to be appropriate. I have had discussions with the transport unit of the ESRI with a view to looking back at whether the major interurban motorways built could have been done better, as suggested by the Deputy. We have to learn from what happened in the past. A significant proportion of the high cost of the roads built can be attributed to the payments made to land owners and the arrangement reached with the Irish Farmers Association on land costs. It is fair to say that arrangement would not be made now. They got a very good deal. The files confirm the political pressure that a deal needed to be cut with the landowners.

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