Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I dtosach báire, mar a dúirt mé cheana, ní bhaineann díospoireacht an lae inniu le Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga. Beidh mé lán-sásta teacht ar ais agus an report eile a phlé, más mian le Seanadóirí.

The Galway outer city by-pass is not in the current programme. The issue of tolling on the N17 is something best put to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar.

We have stated there are no significant new roads programmes to be commenced under this programme. We are looking at the possible prospect of leveraging additional public private partnership money and to that end I met last week with the vice president of the European Investment Bank, to advance the number 1 project on the roads public private partnership scheme, the N11. As Senator Hayden rightly noted, that was to have been in a previous time concluded when moneys were moved, shall we say. That is bundled with another project and I am seeking funding from the EIB, co-funded with an Irish bank, to carry out that project. If that mechanism proves successful I hope we may be able to look at other projects, not only in roads but in energy and other areas. The European Investment Bank is funding wind farming in the west, for example, and other projects. This is an area in which I am anxious to leverage any resources I can get. The first part of the funding is likely but I am not yet sure how much further we can go. Céim ar céim, maidir le rá.

Senator Walsh came a little between us in our discussions. I remember being quite shocked at the scale of the downsizing he originally wanted.