Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I try to get out of Dublin as soon as I can and around the country as much as I can. We will be following up this week on Project Ireland 2040 with an announcement of important flood relief works throughout the country. We hope to be able to start opening some of the funds this month - the urban regeneration fund and the rural regeneration fund - that are included in the national planning framework and Project Ireland 2040. We want to open them to applications very soon and hope to make an announcement in that regard in the next couple of weeks. I reassure Deputies I do not choose the questions asked at these events. I do not know who does. In Sligo the questions were placed. However, they have not been since. In Waterford I was asked about the issue of 24/7 cardiac care services and the catheterisation laboratory. In Galway I was asked about student fees. The questions have been diverse and often not related directly to Project Ireland 2040. I assume they are not written by anyone in my Department, but it is correct that in Sligo they were placed. However, that has not been the case since.

On protocol, if I travel to another jurisdiction, I inform the government in that jurisdiction. If I travel to Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Office is informed. That is the protocol and it is always followed, at the very least for security reasons. I will make low key visits, as appropriate. I honestly do not believe every time I visit some part of the country or some other country that it is necessary for me to be always surrounded by officials, public representatives and the media pack. It is good that I can make low key visits to schools, hospitals, ports, etc. I hope people will understand why I want to do so. I have done it before on a previous visit to Northern Ireland when I attended the Pride festival and breakfast. I am not sure if some of the people who have been criticising me might like to attend the Pride breakfast with me next year. I would very much welcome it, if they wished to do so.

I have to say I am a big supporter of MetroLink. In 2011 it was with deep regret that the project had to be postponed. It was my decision as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to postpone it because we could not afford it at the time. I am often criticised in other parts of the country for delaying and postponing transport projects. The biggest one I postponed was the one that affected my constituency. I refer to Metro North and Metro West. It was a difficult decision, but it had to be done, given the state of the country's finances at the time. The new proposal is even better. It is no longer Metro North but Metro north and south, going all the way from Lissenhall-----

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