Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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253. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the Narrow Water Bridge project in view of its symbolic and economic benefit to the north east; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41647/13]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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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.  The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for each local authority. The application for INTERREG IVA funding by Louth County Council and its partners was for €17.4m.  This amount was approved by the SEUPB.  Financial contributions were sought from my Department and the Northern Ireland Department of Finance & Personnel on the basis of this figure, with any balance to be funded by Louth County Council.  The funding which was to be provided by my Department for the Narrow Water Bridge Project represented a significant commitment given the current financial circumstances and the fact that the project did not perform well in cost benefit analyses from a transport perspective.

On 9th July Louth County Council released a statement indicating that the tenders received ranged from €26m to €40m plus VAT which was substantially above the allocated budget for the project and leaving the Council with a substantial funding shortfall.  The Council also stated that while they would try to see if the shortfall could be filled through any combination of additional funding and cost reductions the project had been put on hold. Unfortunately, on the basis of the tender prices received, the cost of the project is well beyond that projected and bridging the shortfall is very difficult. Furthermore the increased cost of the project now has significantly reduced the Benefit to Cost Ratio associated with this project.

I understand that the Special EU Programmes Body has been in discussion with Louth County Council and its project partners in relation to the financial viability and deliverability of the scheme. This is to be expected given the scale of the cost increase.  It is a matter for the SEUPB, taking account of its responsibilities in relation to the allocation of INTERREG IVA funding, to assess the position and satisfy itself as to the deliverability of the project.  As part of this process SEUPB sought clarifications and additional information from the project partners which it is now assessing.  No formal proposal has been made by Louth County Council to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on increasing the Department’s funding contribution. Due to budget cut backs the Department for Transport, Tourism and Sport has had to curtail investment on major new / improvement projects in recent times to focus available funds on necessary maintenance and repair work and based on the current estimates. As the Deputy will be aware, there is scheduled to be a further reduction of in excess of €50m in the 2014 budget for Regional and Local Roads. It is from this budget that any additional funds for the Narrow Water Bridge would have to come.

Notwithstanding this, I have previously stated that I would be willing to consider helping to make up some of the shortfall but only in the context that there would be significant additional contributions from other parties including the Northern Ireland Executive.  As I understand it to date such a package of funding has not been put together. The SEUPB is currently in discussions with Louth County Council and its project partners in relation to the financial viability and deliverability of the scheme. It should be noted that there are other transport related projects with a cross-border dimension that could be consider for any unallocated INTERREG funding including improvements to the North-South railway.