Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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578. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to publish the criteria his Department used to evaluate which roads building projects to include in its submission to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform capital review; how each of the major scheme indicative list and minor scheme indicative list projects scored numerically against each of these criteria; what stage one of the Galway by-pass includes and excludes, specifically regarding the purchase of land and the construction work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15752/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​My Department's submission to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in connection with the Capital Plan 2016-2021 identified 4 key priorities for capital investment:

- incrementally achieving steady state levels of investment in land transport;

- targeted measures to address bottlenecks and urban congestion;

- addressing key infrastructure gaps in sport, tourism, smarter travel and regional airports;

- commencing necessary planning and design for key transport infrastructure to 2030.

The indicative list of road projects included in the submission reflected these policy priorities rather than a numerical ranking.

The final proposed list of projects is as outlined in the Capital Plan 2016-2021, and as published in September 2015. The transport element of the plan provides that a number of schemes targeting bottlenecks and urban congestion in the road network will be progressed subject to necessary approvals.  In this context road projects included in the Capital Plan 2016-2021, including the proposed Galway Bypass, are subject to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's Public Spending Code and this Department's updated Capital Appraisal Framework which sets out the requirements for expenditure appraisal and Value for Money requirements.  An Bord Pleanála consent is also required for major projects.

As the implementation of individual national road projects is the responsibility of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, I have referred your question regarding the current position in relation to the proposed Galway Bypass project to TII for direct reply.