Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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While the Minister of State might not be familiar with this issue, it is a very important issue. Fingal County Council and all of us in the area are seeking approval from the Departments of Transport and Finance to allow the council to borrow in order to complete the project to build the N2 to N3 link road. The area, which is heavily congested with traffic, is very important to Ireland's economy as a whole because it is home to IBM Ireland, Bristol Myers Squibb, PayPal and various other companies.

The M3 from Kells to Clonee and the M50 project are now nearing completion. When that happens people will be able to drive from Kells on the M3 along the M50 and go as far as Wexford or from Belfast on the M1, along the M50 and all the way to Navan, and only meet traffic lights at one point. That one point is this area of road that is not being upgraded between the M50 and Clonee, on the N3 where it goes through Blanchardstown. We will essentially have an entirely new toll bridge. All the traffic from Kells to Belfast and from Wexford to Navan will be stopped at these two sets of traffic lights. It is similar to the situation that existed at the toll bridge and at the Red Cow interchange, which were not sorted out for a long time. We are now recreating that problem all over again. As is often the case we put in new road infrastructure which is necessary but do not figure out what will be the impact at the bit of the road down the line or up the line. Again this is happening and I want the Government to be aware of it so that it can be held responsible for it if it fails to act in coming months.

In the medium term we need the upgrading of that section of the N3, which will be the only bit that will not be motorway between Kells and Wexford or between Belfast and Navan. The council needs to be given approval to build the N2 to N3 link road, which will take pressure off that section of the road in the short term. It is an economically viable project which will pay for itself from development levies. It is also an economically important project because of the area it serves, which is the enormous industrial area north of Blanchardstown that accommodates so many major businesses, including IBM, Bristol Myers Squibb, Abbott, Alcatel-Lucent and PayPal. I want to notify the Government that this issue is going to occur so that it is aware of it and can be held responsible if it does not act, but more importantly so that it can now make plans first by providing funding for the link road and then by agreeing to upgrade that section of the N3 without too much delay.

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to address this issue in the House on behalf of the Minister for Transport. The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities' own resources supplemented by State road grants paid by the Department of Transport. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.

The Minister for Transport recently announced the 2010 regional and local road grant allocations. A total of €411.4 million is being provided to local authorities this year for the maintenance and improvement of regional and local roads. In deciding on allocations for 2010 the first priority was to ensure the protection of the existing road network and particularly the major Exchequer investment of €6 billion which has been made through the provision of regional and local road grants since 1997. It is important that resources are therefore targeted to address, on a priority basis, the most urgently required repairs resulting from the extensive damage caused by the recent severe weather. Local authorities should carefully reassess their planned road programmes for 2010 having regard to these priorities.

It is understood that Fingal County Council recently applied to the Department of Transport for sanction for loan approval of €20 million for this project. This application is being considered in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The Department of Transport has requested the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to indicate the overall borrowing limits in place for local authorities for 2010 and the proportion that will be available to cover roads-related borrowing by local authorities in 2010. Once this information is available, the Department will review all the loan applications which it has on hand, including the application from Fingal County Council.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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We are nearly half way through 2010. It is March.