Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy McDaid, to the House. I am disappointed that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is not here to reply to this matter, but I know the Minister of State, Deputy McDaid, will take a great interest in this subject over the next couple of months and it is more than likely that he will travel this stretch of road.

The Castlebar to Westport road, a national primary route, is the busiest stretch of the N5 from Westport to Kinnegad, but it is also the worst stretch. What is the up to date position on the road? In the national development plan, the miserly sum of €350,000 is allocated for mapping and so forth. For the past number of years, it has been speculated that the road could be developed as a public-private partnership, a design build operate project, a toll road, a single lane road or a dual carriageway. It is all talk. Will the Minister outline the up to date position on the road and the timeframe in which it will be built?

As I said, this is the busiest stretch of the N5 and thousands of cars travel daily between Castlebar, the county town, and Westport, which is a major tourism attraction, two of the busiest towns in County Mayo. If one travels from Dublin to Westport on a weekly basis, one will see what a terrible state the N5 is in. The Government has let down County Mayo and is treating the people no better than Cromwell when he said "To hell or to Connacht".

I hope the Minister will prioritise this section of road for funding. It falls in the BMW region and the country got large sums of money on the backs of the people in the BMW region. I hope the Minister of State, Deputy McDaid, will use his position, and perhaps the position he is aspiring to in a couple of months, to prioritise this route.

Jim McDaid (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Paddy Burke for raising this issue. I am well aware of the road between Castlebar and Westport as I worked in Castlebar hospital for a time and lived in Westport.

Since the Department of Transport was established we have spent €1.2 billion per year on the national routes. I am from the west and I realise that the BMW region has lagged behind. Of the €1.2 billion, more than €300 million will be spent in the BMW region, which is a 60% increase on the previous year. In other words, there has been a 60% increase this year in the National Roads Authority allocation to the BMW region over the previous year. I agree with the Senator that we have to catch up. The planning, design and implementation of the national roads programme is a matter for the National Roads Authority and the local authority, which in this case is Mayo County Council. I am informed that the current position on the N5 Westport-Castlebar project is that the overall length of the scheme is 15 km with an estimated cost of approximately €58.37 million. The preferred route was identified in January 2001.

The necessary preliminary design and preparation of statutory documentation, which the Senator mentioned, are nearing completion, for which the 2004 allocation is €230,000. The allocations for 2002-03 amounted to €1.024 million. The NRA is reviewing the roads programme in light of the Government's decision to provide funding of €1.2 billion per annum over the remainder of the national development plan programme. The NRA will keep this project under review so that it will progress to the next phase at the first available opportunity.

On behalf of the Department, I was delighted yesterday that the roads infrastructure programme has been taken out of overall Government spending. Our infrastructure lags behind but as a result of that decision, we will not be hindered in our efforts to spend more in the coming years.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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It would seem that there is still not any great hope of this road project commencing in the near future.

Jim McDaid (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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As I said, the Department of Transport has only been in existence for a year and a half. While there was a certain lagging behind in infrastructure, there has been a 60% increase in spending in the BMW region this year. I am sure the matter will progress once the planning and design stages, for which the sum of €230,000 has been allocated this year, have been completed. In the next few years, a large amount of money will become available for that region. Once we get the port tunnel and Luas operational — one will start in September and the other next year — and off our books, much more money will become available, particularly for expenditure in those areas. At present, however, the larger projects are eating into our budget.