Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 237: To ask the Minister for Transport the amount the Transport 21 report cost the taxpayer; the position he is at regarding Transport 21; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28518/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The Transport 21 2006 Annual Progress Report was prepared by Departmental officials. Printing and translation costs were €12,787. The first issue of a Transport 21 Newsletter was recently published. The printing cost was €1,795. Significant progress has been made to date on Transport 21. Major projects, particularly on the national road network, are being brought in on time and on budget.

All of the seven national road projects opened to date this year have been on time, including the Newry- Dundalk motorway which opened three months ahead of schedule, the Tyrellspass to Kilbeggan project which was six months ahead of schedule, and phase 1 of the Arklow- Gorey Bypass which opened 4 months ahead of schedule. The inter-urban motorway programme is on target to be completed by the end of 2010 and the final section of the M1 Dublin-Border motorway opened recently.

There has also been considerable progress in public transport sector. Construction has begun on a number of important rail projects, including the first phase of the Western Rail Corridor and the Kildare route upgrade. Two Luas projects also started — the extension to Cherrywood and Docklands. The Docklands station in Dublin opened last March two years ahead of target. New rolling stock is being introduced on the railways. The benefits of this can be seen in the hourly service introduced on the Dublin-Cork route at the start of the year and will be seen on other intercity routes as the new railcars enter service. Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are putting additional buses into service, improving the level of service. Pier D in Dublin Airport opened earlier this week on time and within budget — the cost was 20% less than the cost of comparable international facilities.