Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I do not agree with the Deputy that because we cannot afford it now it will never be built. We have often been criticised in the past for not taking a long-term view of things. By the time the M50 was built, it was too small. While I am critical of the previous Government it did engage in some strategic thinking. The motorway system was a good investment. We need to complete parts of it. For example, in relation to the M11, it makes no sense to build it 80% of the way and to leave the remaining section to Rosslare-Europort unbuilt. While we will not be able to afford to do that in the foreseeable future - as I have told people directly - the dilemma is do we then allow people to build on the corridor required to complete it resulting in our having to in ten years time commence replanning and re-routing? These are real dilemmas.

Similarly, the New Ross bypass is a worthy project but we might have to rethink the scale of it. The Deputy made valid points during our debate yesterday on the public capital programme. We need to tease out these issues in detail. We cannot shut down long-term planning and confine our horizon to the next difficult five years. This country will recover and will be in a position to invest again. We should not foreclose on the opportunities to invest in infrastructure be it roads, schools and so on. Public transport plans such as Metro North are feasible in the longer term. They are just not affordable now.

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