Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The next step here is to have an agreed and approved project. This is a project that is still in the statutory planning process. We hope it will come through that in the not-too-distant future. What the Taoiseach and I have signalled is a willingness for us to have a conversation with our partners in Northern Ireland and with the British Government to see what more might need to be done on behalf of this Government and this State to bring about the delivery of this project. We recognise how important it is economically, socially and, of course, from a road satiety point of view, but we need to have a project that is approved.

It has had a long journey to get to this point. Again, I point to the fact we have made a substantial capital commitment of €1 billion out to 2030. So far we have allocated almost €200 million under the shared island fund. We are, therefore, backing up our words with cash and with a financial commitment. We are prepared to have that discussion once we have an approved project and once we have people to sit down with to discuss this issue.

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