Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 470: To ask the Minister for Transport the status of the Leinster Outer Orbital route and the Dublin eastern bypass; if he will publish the National Roads Authority report on the Leinster outer orbital route; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29826/09]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme element of Transport 21. The construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads, including the Leinster Orbital Route and the Dublin Eastern Bypass, is a matter for the National Roads Authority under the Roads Act 1993 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Neither Transport 21 nor the National Development Plan provides any funding for a Leinster Orbital Route or the Dublin Eastern Bypass.

The Government has already made it clear that, under Transport 21, its priorities for the national roads investment programme, are the completion of the major inter-urban network in 2010 and the progressing of the Atlantic Road Corridor as well as the improvement of other key national primary routes and the targeting improvement of certain national secondary routes. It is clear that, in the current economic climate, further progress on projects such as the Leinster Orbital Route and the Dublin Eastern Bypass will only be possible as and when resources become available.

Both proposals remain important potential elements of our longer-term infrastructure development. My Department will continue to liaise with the National Roads Authority with a view to ensuring that route options are preserved free of impediment for these projects. The National Roads Authority's report on the Leinster Orbital Route is available on the Authority's website.