Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Several issues arise. First, it is important to point out that this is just the public consultation phase. It is not a policy decision and the NRA is welcoming an input from the private sector, local authorities and, of course, public representatives. I know TEN-T very well as I was chairman of the Council of Ministers when it went through the European process. What it states is that we should have rest areas every 100 km and that this is in line with the needs of society, the market and the environment in order to provide appropriate parking space for commercial road users and for an appropriate level of safety and security. It seems the NRA’s document interprets this to mean that, in an Irish context, service areas should be more frequent than every 100 km. My own view is the reverse, that we probably need them to be less frequent than every 100 km. I would be more in line with the road safety strategy which suggests we need a few more but not one every 40 km or 50 km.

The Deputy’s point about the private sector is well made. I hope potential private sector operators and developers take the opportunity presented by the public consultation process to indicate very clearly what they could offer, whether online or offline services. On the M9, Dublin-Waterford, we all agree that a service area is needed. One can almost drive the whole way without finding anywhere to stop for petrol or to take a break. Originally, there were to be two service areas, one at Kilcullen and one at Paulstown, which is probably how the NRA came up with the location, as there would have been one one third of the way along the route and a second two thirds of the way along it. Had there been a plan just for one, perhaps somewhere further south might have made more sense, but that decision was made a long time ago.

See this speech in context