The Taoiseach is aware of the concept of bridge building as a metaphor for what we need to do on this island, North and South, and within the North itself. He will also be very aware that a very practical project has been in the making for the past 30 years which would bridge the North and the South and has the support of all the political parties in Counties Louth, Down and Armagh and across all civic and community sectors and society. Obviously, I am talking about the Narrow Water Bridge proposal.

At last Friday's North-South Ministerial Council meeting, Ministers were supportive of this project. The economic benefits of this infrastructural investment for communities on both sides of the Border are considerable, and at a time when the construction industry needs investment to create real jobs. The building of this bridge is a relatively small investment with significant potential. In the short term, it will deliver 270 jobs and in the longer term, the entire region will have a massive economic stimulus from the Cooley Peninsula and Slieve Gullion across Carlingford Lough to the Mourne Mountains. Support from the Special European Union Programmes Body is evidence of its importance.

I have raised this issue with the Taoiseach before and I know he supports it but the deadline keeps slipping. According to Louth County Council, the contractor is only obliged to hold the contract price until 16 December but he has agreed to extend it until 18 January next. Can the Taoiseach help to end the uncertainty over this vital infrastructural project and agree to release the funding which will bring it to completion?

Fáilte abhaile roimh an Teachta. Tá súil agam go raibh turas maith aige.

The Narrow Water Bridge is the first manifestation of physical contact between North and South that has been put together for very many years in this area and which is supported, as a principle, by practically everybody. Deputy Adams will be aware that the estimate for the cost of the provision of the Narrow Water Bridge to Rostrevor was approximately €18 million and that the tenders which came in were very much in excess of that.

In terms of what needed to be done, clearly, Louth County Council has an issue, as do Newry and Mourne District Council, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Government here. A value for money report was done which estimated that the bridge is a viable proposition and entity. The problem is the scale of the tenders being in excess of the scale of the estimate but I am not qualified to go through the detail of that.

The moneys provided from a European Union perspective, through the SEUPB, were allocated for the provision of the bridge in a certain timescale and we do not want to lose this money. This matter was discussed at the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh on Friday. Agreement was reached between all the parties - everyone continued to support the provision of the Narrow Water Bridge - that there would be an immediate analysis of the extent of the tenders submitted and the reasons they were so extensive and that discussions would be held with the SEUPB. That is where it lies at the moment but there was a general consensus strongly in support of the Narrow Water Bridge.

To be honest with the Deputy, I am not quite sure if it can be dealt with in the timescale mentioned here. There was a question of piling on either side of the lough. I do not know the answer to the Deputy's question but I know the Government here supports this, as do Louth County Council, Newry and Mourne District Council and the Assembly in Northern Ireland. It is a question of having the money in place, doing the analysis of the tenders and arriving at a position where this allocation from a European Union perspective is not lost to the region. I would like to see the Narrow Water Bridge provided but I cannot say at this stage whether the timescale to hold this particular tranche of money is sufficient. However, there is work going on, as a consequence of the North-South Ministerial Council, on the analysis of the tenders and the extent of those received.

Fáilte abhaile roimh an Taoiseach fosta.

I thank the Taoiseach for his answer. Clearly, what we need is a decision. I understand this analysis has to be done but it would be a sin if the cocktail of funding that has been put together was lost. The Government has said - the Tánaiste said this very recently - that we need to take the brakes off all-island economic development. The Government also quite correctly said disadvantage is very prominent along the Border and along the Border corridor and that people there have suffered grievously because of partition. This is a very practical example of a lot of hard work done over a very long time. It is very unique to get so much co-operation among all the different sectors involved, which the Taoiseach acknowledged in his answer.

We have until 18 January to crunch this. Basically, what is required from the Government is €6 million from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government or some arrangement around other incentives which could be put in place. Will the Taoiseach make this happen?

When one gets the Assembly, the Executive and the Government here joined up in this way, if the Taoiseach decided to make this happen, it would happen. I appeal to him to do so. I understand the difficulties involved as I am heavily involved in this. Sinn Féin has been campaigning on this matter. It is very much up to the Taoiseach to take this as a very concrete example of building a prosperity process out of a peace process. We talk about stimulus, about getting the construction industry going and about exploiting, for the sake of our citizens, the tourism and other potential in some of these areas. This is a classic case of where that can all happen if the Taoiseach decides to make it happen.

To be honest with the Deputy, I would like to see it happen but I think we have to go through the analysis of the tenders. As I said, there was a shortfall of approximately €15 million between the estimate and the tenders that came in.

I know the local authority in Louth has convened a meeting this Friday to discuss how this might continue to be supported along with Newry and Mourne. I think that is good. I assume it will not have on its desk the analysis of why the tenders were so greatly in excess of the estimate that was received in the first place. It is not a case of the Government or the Department here deciding to take full responsibility for this. There was always the shared concept of doing this. Having spoken to personnel from the Assembly and the Executive, I am aware that the value for money report which has to be conducted from Stormont has to satisfy the Chancellor of the Exchequer's office. I think they need to look at that again. They will do so in the context of how flexible it can be made and in accordance with the report of the Special EU Programmes Body, which says that it is a viable entity. It is not a question of unwillingness on the part of the Government or the Department here. I do not think it is a question of unwillingness on the part of the Executive. It is a case of keeping the bridge concept and principle very much alive. My immediate concern is that the European moneys were allocated for a specific time. Neither the Deputy nor anyone else would want those moneys to be lost to the region. We will see what can happen in the short term, in terms of the analysis of the tenders and whether further progress can be made. My answer to the Deputy's question is that we are willing to support it, but we need to have clarity regarding how it is shared. I think that sentiment is shared by the North-South Ministerial Council.