Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I again thank both Deputies for their advocacy for this road and for reflecting the concerns of the local community, which I heard myself when I visited Sligo County Council. I can only emphasise that this road is being included in the national development plan. The allocations for all roads are made annually at the end of the year to allow for continuity of funding. The allocation will be made later on this year in the context of this road and all other roads. That is the case with all of the national roads if the Deputies were to ask me about them in the context of the national development plan.

There is an important regional aspect in terms of regional development and also from a road safety perspective. I appreciate the Deputy raising that point. The reason we are developing many of these roads is because of the collision data, some of which is shocking. A lot of people have lost their lives on that road and that cannot be lost in the context of this discussion. We often talk about economic development and other matters when it comes to roads investment, but a singular important point in the context of 30 years of roads investment has been the dramatic reduction in road deaths and the improvement of our road network has played an important role in that regard.

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