John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am replying on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Varadkar, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and I thank Senator D'Arcy raising this important issue.

As the Senator is aware, Narrow Water Bridge is expected to be discussed at the plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council on Friday, 4 July, in Dublin Castle. 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 Minister's Department. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.

The Minister has confirmed many times, through parliamentary questions and in other fora, the Government's disappointment that the Narrow Water Bridge tender process resulted in a doubling of the initial costs budgeted for by the project partners for the construction of the bridge. Given the budgetary constraints that his Department is operating under, it could not take on full responsibility for the increased project cost and the significant risks involved in the project. While the Minister was willing to consider assisting with the shortfall, this was explicitly contingent on significant contributions from other parties, including the Northern Ireland Executive. These commitments were not forthcoming within the timescale required for the INTERREG IV A programme.

The Special EU Programmes Body, SEUPB, then decided to withdraw its funding for the project and to reallocate the funding to other eligible projects in the transport sector to ensure that the EU funds were not lost, which was the intelligent thing to do. The Minister looks forward to an announcement in conjunction with the SEUPB regarding the re-allocation of that EU funding to other transport projects on Friday morning. As to the possibility of the Narrow Water bridge qualifying for funding under the next INTERREG V, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is the lead Department liaising with the SEUPB regarding the INTERREG V funding process. The Minister understands that the SEUPB has now published a draft operational programme for public comment with a set of funding priorities.

As regards the possibility of grant funding from the Department for the project, the Minister has confirmed that his Department is not in a position to grant aid the project as he does not have the scale of resources required when the priority must be road maintenance and restoration as against new projects. No similar new road or bridge projects are going to construction anywhere in the State at present and some that are at a much more advanced stage than the Narrow Water Bridge have been stalled due to lack of finance. However, the situation might change should there be a substantial increase in the Department's capital budget in the future. The Minister's Department must work within the very constrained budget available to it.

As the Senator will be aware, the Northern Ireland High Court decided in March 2013 that an appropriate assessment of the impact of the A5 scheme on the River Foyle and the River Finn, which are special areas of conservation under the habitats directive, was needed and consequently quashed the Minister for Regional Development's approval for construction of two road sections of the route. Since that decision, the Northern Ireland authorities have been working on the preparation of the necessary environmental assessments and revised statutory orders and considerable progress has been made in getting the assessments and orders prepared and out for public consultation. The outcome of the public consultation process will have to be considered and factored into the decision on the need for a new public inquiry next year. The Government's comprehensive review of expenditure for the period 2015 to 2017 and the capital review for the period 2015 to 2019 have commenced. Those involved in these reviews will consider new ways of achieving Government objectives in the current tight fiscal climate, including the extent to which funding will be available for the maintenance and development of the road network. The Minister cannot say at this point what will be the outcome of process relating to the comprehensive and capital reviews. He has. however, drawn the attention of the Minister for Public Expenditure to the need to consider the position in respect of the A5.