Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Ministers of State, Deputies Ring and Ann Phelan, have maintained an extensive interest in the issue of the transport infrastructure along the Wild Atlantic Way and are very supportive of it.

The Wild Atlantic Way is Ireland's first long-distance touring route, at 2,500 km in length. It stretches from Malin Head to Mizen Head following Ireland’s Atlantic coastline. The key objective of the Wild Atlantic Way project is to motivate more overseas visitors to visit the west, to give them reasons to linger longer in terms of tourism experiences and to encourage them to engage with the landscape and communities along the route. Budget 2014 provided €8 million in capital investment for the development of the route to complete route signage and to assist in the development of the 159 discovery points, including the 15 signature discovery points along the way. Signage is now complete and the development of the discovery points will be undertaken as funding permits.

The route is already a hit in key overseas markets such as Britain, the US, France and Germany. With its capacity to attract overseas visitors and showcase the best of the west, the Wild Atlantic Way is set to be one of the most significant developments in tourism.

The National Roads Authority, NRA, in conjunction with the relevant local authorities, oversees the national road infrastructure on all of the national road network. It monitors the condition of road pavements and bridges and has suitable maintenance and repair programmes to ensure roads and bridges are structurally sound.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. While councils could apply in the past for grant funding for certain road improvement projects, budgetary constraints mean that the specific improvement grants scheme has been curtailed to maximise the funding available for repair and strengthening work of the road network.

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