Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. I am very disappointed with it and it makes me even more determined to increase the priority accorded to the project. I accept completely the Minister's statement that he accepts its importance and that there are so many competing projects in the Department but, as he knows, there is potential to obtain European funding for the M7 Newbridge-Naas bypass upgrade scheme. The application deadline for the Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, funding for the scheme is the end of February. The application cannot be lodged without the commitment of funds for the balance of the scheme by the member state. Therefore, there is a minimum State requirement of approximately €38.5 million. This is the scheme cost of €55 million minus the €16.5 million in potential CEF funding for the years 2016 and 2017. Approximately €19 million per year would be required. Without this, the potential CEF funding may be lost until the next application round in 2016. I accept that the Minister's Department is tight on funds because of constraints. This is a matter that we need to bring to the attention of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, as part of an overall examination of capital funding for 2015 and potential stimulus programmes. This project is of the utmost importance to the country.

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