Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right that there was change with this Government - a change towards prioritisation of public transport which has not been there in the past and towards supporting active travel with all the benefits that brings. However, there is still very significant spending on roads. We have spent approximately €5 billion and that expenditure will continue. We are investing in roads primarily for road safety but also for a whole range of other benefits, including improving the public realm which we discussed on the last question. That is something we need to do. Of course, we will continually review that because the world is changing with even some of the cost bases increasing. For example, we have just recently agreed the progression of the road between Scramogue and Ballaghaderreen. The price almost doubled in the last two and a half years due to a variety of different factors. The answer to the Deputy's question is that, of course, we continually monitor, review, update and assess.

The national development plan has allocated a very significant €35 billion to transport. We have about €100 billion worth of projects in planning at various stages. There are further ones we will need to develop that are not on that programme's list. There must be some sort of honest assessment of the staging and likely delivery timelines of all those projects.

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