Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

We did not have to pull screens around at our Ard-Fheis to pretend there was a crowd.

The M50 upgrade will see the five kilometre section from the N7 to the N4 increase from four to six lanes, with free-flowing interchanges at the Red Cow, Liffey Valley and Ballymount roundabouts. Work will shortly commence and will be completed within two years. With the Naas Road widening project and the upgrade of the N2 and N3, this will deliver improvements for road users. The move from four to six lanes and the new interchanges will improve average peak hour speeds, reduce congestion on radial routes and improve traffic flow on the entire Dublin road network. Surely that is welcome news, particularly for those using the M50. Some people are concerned about delays while the work is carried out and it will be important to maintain traffic flow but that is the only concern I have heard.

Senator Morrissey informed me that National Toll Roads built 3.2 kilometres of the M50, including three other bridges apart from the West Link itself. While a Fianna Fáil Minister may have signed the contract, major projects of this nature are not put together in six months. I will take Senator Ross's advice that it is necessary to be factual about the contract. Although it was formally signed by Pádraig Flynn, a Minister in a subsequent Government, the contract was prepared by the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government of the time. Senator Ross's former party cannot wash its hands of that fact.

Senator Bradford stated that Cavan people might not pay tolls. The people of Cavan would gladly pay tolls to travel to Dublin on the M3 if it was constructed. Part of the responsibility for delaying the road lies with some of the Opposition Senators who, shrouded in straitjackets of pomposity, pontificate to a Minister who is attempting to improve the conditions of the travelling public throughout the Twenty-six Counties. In this respect, I welcome Transport 21 but we will discuss that on another day. Members of the Opposition are assisting individuals who are taking court cases against the Government and NRA to prevent the M3 from being constructed. In doing so, they are delaying vital infrastructure for the people of counties Cavan, Fermanagh, Leitrim and Meath. The M3 is needed to allow the people of these counties to use the M50. The current road, the N3, is the artery we must travel to reach Dublin because we do not have any other infrastructure such as railways.

The opponents of the road can jump a DART train, Luas tram, bus or taxi and sit back in their cosy Georgian houses or seaside retreats in Bray, while the people of counties Cavan, Meath, Leitrim and Fermanagh use a dirt track to travel to the capital city and its ports and airport. That is the reality for the people of the north midlands and north west.

I congratulate the Minister and his officials on their decision to upgrade the M50. Let us cut out the nonsense and get the M3 constructed. The people of Cavan will be glad to pay any tolls charged to use the road because the time saved will save money, which we like to do.