asked the Minister for Finance the percentage of the total cost of the proposed motorway from Belfast to Dublin which will be borne by the EC.

In advance of a decision that EC aid would be available to cover part of the cost of such a project it is not possible to state what percentage of the total cost would be covered. As far as the European Regional Development Fund is concerned, the normal rate of aid for projects assisted by that fund is 50 per cent; the rate may amount to 55 per cent in the case of projects of particular importance to the development of the area in which they are located.

Apparently agreement is near between the Minister for the Environment here and his counterpart at Stormont. Will the Minister say if the money will be made available by his Department for this work?

Discussions between ourselves and the Northern Ireland authorities have not been concluded. The bulk of the expenditure on the project will be borne by the Northern Ireland authorities. The Deputy can be assured that we will seek the maximum possible aid within the normal rules of the EC Regional Development Fund in respect of this project.

For at least three years there has been a special portfolio dealing with cross-Border projects. In those circumstances would the Minister try to ensure that a higher rate than the figure he gave will be applied in this case in view of a common decision taken as long ago as 1981?

I think the Deputy is referring to the non-quota section of the Regional Fund but that would not apply to projects like this. In any case, I think the rate of assistance of 50 per cent to 55 per cent would be a better avenue of approach than the non-quota section.

Is the Minister aware that the only Border regions included for support by the non-quota section within the EC is the Border between the North and South here? I was at the Council meeting which decided this. In view of that can the Minister say that the non-quota section could not apply?

I was reminding the House that the non-quota section of the Regional Fund, as agreed at the time Deputy O'Kennedy was talking about, does not include projects of this kind.

Could the Minister not include this project in the tourism section?

The point is that we are better off looking for assistance for this project in the normal run of the European Regional Development Fund than seeking to put it in the non-quota section where there are specific allocations. The present non-quota section of the fund will come to an end later this year and, as we will learn in a reply to a further question later, we have other plans in mind for an extension of the non-quota section.

The non-quota section is due for renegotiation. Does the Minister intend to try to get the area of expenditure broadened to enable us to get Border projects under way in view of the serious unemployment problem there?

Is it envisaged that money would be borrowed from the EIB for this job?

That will be considered. Recently I opened discussions with the EIB about the approach of the bank to the accumulation of Community aid that we have been getting and the course of these discussions is going very favourably.

A final supplementary.

Will the Minister assure the House that if money is made available from the European Investment Bank for this project he will lend it on to the Department of the Environment at the rate of interest at which he received it from the European Investment Bank?

We are getting further from the question.

That is a completely different question, but the Deputy may be assured that in the event of European Investment Bank funds being made available for this part, among others, of the road programme, then, as always, we will use those funds to the best advantage.

The Minister did not answer my question.

This is the busiest road in the country.

Ceist a cúig.

The low rate of interest from the European Investment Bank ought not to be kept in the Department. The customer has to pay in the end.

For the benefit of Deputy Wilson's peace of mind——

Would Deputy Wilson please allow the Minister to answer the question?

——and to alleviate a little his agitation, he is barking up the wrong tree because, as far as roads funding is concerned, it is the Exchequer which borrows and the Exchequer which uses.

Is it not the busiest road in the country because of all the cross-Border traffic that uses it?

Ceist a cúig.