Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Minister that it is currently not possible to increase the number of lanes on an 8 km stretch of motorway from two to three for less than €10 million per kilometre, which gives a total cost of €80 million as opposed to €30 million. The Minister only uses the N11 from Enniskerry. If he were to drive from Rosslare to Dublin, he would find that the absence of jobs in Wexford means the road is congested again with builders driving to Dublin for work. It would be great if people had access to a decent and fast rail network, which we do not have currently. It would be wonderful if the Government was prepared to invest in rail.

The North Sea-Mediterranean core network corridor includes the route from Cork to Dublin and across the Irish Sea to England. This route will close after Brexit, which means the nearest point of access to the Continent will be through Rosslare Port. The route from Belfast through Dublin and Rosslare and into France should be the new corridor. Brexit will impact on European funding and investment in the core network corridor. It is commonsense to invest in the rail line between Dublin and Rosslare to link up to the Continent. Such investment would be an example of forward and joined-up thinking.

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