Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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27. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the commitment in respect of the completion of the A5 motorway to Derry and Letterkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53263/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I refer to the reply by the Taoiseach to PQ 51982 on 5 December last.

Under the Fresh Start Agreement concluded in 2015 between the British and Irish Governments and the main political parties in the North, the Irish Government reaffirmed its existing commitment to providing funding of £50 million for the A5 Western Transport Corridor serving the North West and also committed an additional £25m to the project.

A Senior Officials Group was subsequently established to monitor progress in taking forward the range of infrastructure commitments contained in Fresh Start including the A5 Western Transport Corridor. This group is co-chaired by senior officials from the Department of Infrastructure Northern Ireland and the Department of the Taoiseach. This group meets on a regular basis throughout the year; it has met 7 times in total with its last meeting on 7 November 2017.

On 28 November 2017, the Department of Infrastructure Northern Ireland announced the decision to proceed with the A5 Western Transport Corridor scheme and it is currently finalising preparations to enable work to start in 2018.

As part of the work of the Senior Officials Group, the Department of the Taoiseach has been in contact at official level with key stakeholders in the A5 project including the Department of Infrastructure Northern Ireland, Derry City and Strabane District Council and other UK Government Officials. These contacts have referenced phase 1 of the project in recent weeks once it became clear that a start date was envisaged in 2018. A final decision in respect of the A5 alignment is a matter for the Northern Ireland authorities.