Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. In his budget speech, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform indicated he was bringing forward the capital plan review and that work on the review would commence now. He also stated clearly he would be in a position to bring a revised and more ambitious programme of capital investment forward next year. To date, the review has not been formally launched and the scope of the review has still to be clarified. However, the Department will put forward its submission once the parameters are known. There are considerable demands in the transport sector where a strong case can be made for extra funding. The additional resources to be allocated under the review remain to be determined. In the road sector alone, there are a range of issues which extra funding would help to address, including the Deputy's issue. Overall, once the scope of the capital review is clarified, including the amount of extra funding involved, proposals to accelerate shovel-ready road projects would have to be weighed against other demands.

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