Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

If I leave at 2.30 p.m. I have no hope because my average speed will be 40 mph all the way to Donegal.

Another choice is to go as far as Ballygawley roundabout and access the M1 via Armagh and Newry. Some people bypass Monaghan while others go via Enniskillen and Cavan. There is too much choice but because we use too many alternative routes not enough people travel on one road for it to be identified. That is a wrong system for the people of the north west.

The M1 from Belfast to Dublin is very good. Donegal people use the Ballygawley to Armagh route. According to Dungannon councillors, the Armagh to Newry route is a low-priority route in the North. We are pushing all our motorists onto these routes and the M1, which will be upgraded while we lose out. The system is wrong in terms of identifying one route. The only route that will satisfy the people of Donegal is not a two-plus-one route but a dual carriageway from Letterkenny to Dublin through Aughnacloy. We need to co-operate with the Northern authorities on the A5. It is fundamental to the needs of the people of Donegal including daily and weekly commuters, and cancer sufferers who travel by ambulance. Two weeks ago it was reported that a cancer sufferer took nearly seven hours to travel from Letterkenny to Dublin by ambulance——