In arriving at his decision, the Minister had regard to the following: the scale and extent of archaeological excavations carried out on the Carrickmines site commencing in August 2000 and continuing to date – as many as 130 archaeologists have been employed on the Carrickmines site and the archaeological mitigation to date is estimated to cost €6 million; the contribution that this work has made, and continues to make, to enhancing the national archaeological record, the understanding of the history and changing settlement patterns of south county Dublin and the knowledge of medieval and post-medieval frontier castle life in the area; the implications of further delay or non-completion of the south eastern motorway scheme for the Government's objectives regarding the integrated transportation strategy for the Dublin region set out in the National Development Plan 2000-2006 and the Dublin Transportation Office's, A Platform for Change 2000-2016; the need to realise the full transport service objectives of the M50 in relation to the Dublin area and the radial national routes serving the regions; the objectives of the integrated transportation strategy for the greater Dublin area, including the role envisaged for the M50 in facilitating access to Dublin Port, thereby removing a significant volume of heavy vehicles from Dublin city centre; the significant environmental and safety implications for residential areas along the local road network in the south Dublin area arising out of any further delay or non-completion of the south eastern motorway scheme; the need to maintain commercial and economic activity in the south Dublin area and to provide for the further development of the area; and the potential additional substantial demands on Exchequer funding and the possibility of the loss of EU Cohesion Fund aid previously approved arising out of any further delay or non-completion of the scheme.