Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Niamh Smyth and Brendan Smith for their special pleading, which is perfectly legitimate. This is what happens all the time, particularly in respect of roads. I do not want to give them any encouragement because the constraints on the purse are so huge but I understand the real problems in the Border areas, particularly in the light of Brexit. The Deputies have made a good case but, as I said, there is no provision in the capital plan for the east-west scheme. It is open to individual local authorities to progress the upgrade of sections of the route from their own resources. While the Deputies might query whether this project will be considered in the capital plan review in light of Brexit there are no proposals at present to do so given that the overall funding available under the review is limited to €2.65 billion across all sectors. The most that can be said is that while available funding is not sufficient to address all the demands for improvement schemes, including schemes such as the east-west link by the end of the capital plan period, capital funding for the road network is expected to be back up to the levels needed to support maintenance and improvement works. At that stage there will be more scope to consider projects such as the east-west link on a phased basis.

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