Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to ask about the funding structure for Transport Infrastructure Ireland projects and how that funding is drawn down. The Minister will have seen the article this morning in the Irish Independentsuggesting that the failure to invest in road projects could lead to up to 77 deaths in five years. It is a stark reminder that when projects are approved to be advanced, we need to advance them with scale and ambition and it needs to happen quickly. The structure we have at the moment is to do things on a phase-by-phase basis. When the Government gives funding for a project to begin, it has to wait for the next step and the next step and the next step. That is causing serious problems for Transport Infrastructure Ireland and for the engagement of contractors on many of these projects.

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