Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Malcolm Byrne for raising this important issue, which affects his constituency and mine. It actually affects quite a number of constituencies and our region. In many ways, it speaks, as Deputy Byrne rightly said, to the issue of infrastructure. We are too slow at delivering infrastructure. This is why when we came together to form this Government, the programme for Government was very clear on expanding the mandate of the Department of public expenditure to also include a new division on infrastructure delivery and having, for the first time, a Cabinet committee dedicated exclusively to the issue of infrastructure so we can remove bottlenecks, if Deputy Byrne will pardon the pun, and try to drive forward these projects.

The Government is not anti-roads. Let me be very clear, in that there is a new Government and the Government made up of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, with the support of Independents, is a Government that wants to get on with the business of building roads. Even electric cars need roads to drive on. The buses also need roads to go on. Unless we are getting hovercraft, we need roads. There is road safety issue, a road maintenance issue and a quality-of-life issue. We need to do more, which I can see with the N11-M11 in a practical way.

Approximately €502 million of Exchequer capital funds have been provided for national roads for protection and renewal and for new roads. In addition, €98 million has been provided for national roads under public-private partnerships. As part of various allocations, €12 million in capital funding was allocated to Wexford County Council and a further €3.2 million was allocated to Wicklow County Council to cover new roads and the protection and renewal of the existing national road network.

In addition to this investment in our national roads infrastructure, a number of significant improvements are also planned across Ireland's rail network over the coming years, including on the Dublin to Rosslare line. Last year, we saw some changes to timetables on the line, including a new late evening service between Wexford and Gorey. I look forward to similar timetable improvements being introduced. The Department of Transport is working to pursue the recommendations of the all-island strategic rail review, including an increase in services for Wexford and Rosslare to at least one train every two hours. I know this is an important measure.

Other measures further up the line will have a positive impact on congestion, traffic and commuters. As part of the DART+ programme, specifically the DART+ Coastal South project, it is planned to increase service frequency between Bray and Greystones and that portion of the Rosslare line from approximately every 30 minutes in each direction to every 20 minutes. The extension of the new battery electric DART carriages is also being looked at very actively, which would enable the DART to service Wicklow town. All of these measures will make a very positive difference in terms of being able to increase the frequency. I am told the NTA is examining the issue of extending the DART service to Wicklow, which could increase the service frequency along that portion of the line from six trains per day each way to a train every hour. Taken in the round, these measures will see increased frequency on the Dublin to Rosslare line.

In addition to this, we need to advance the programme for Government commitments on including funding for new roads, including funding for the protection and renewal of roads and establishing distinct budgets for road maintenance and new road construction in order to give that policy direction to the NTA that Deputy Byrne rightly referenced.

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