A5 road co-funding
Deputy Mac Lochlainn asked whether the Government would recommit to equal co-funding for the A5 project after earlier withdrawal. The Taoiseach said the Government supported the road, explained the earlier reduced contribution, and referred to improved fiscal conditions since then.
Last night, there was a huge public meeting in Tyrone of a grassroots campaign, Enough is Enough, led by Tyrone GAA and the families of people who have lost their lives on the A5. As the Taoiseach knows, the project has been bedevilled by legal objections, but now there is huge momentum to make this happen. The then Government had committed to equally co-funding the road. When the Taoiseach was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, he withdrew that offer of €400 million. Will he now recommit, on behalf of the Government, to co-funding equally this project, which we all hope will start very soon?
Comment on this
First, the Government very much supports the A5-N2 project. It is important not just for connecting Derry and Letterkenny to other parts of Ireland but also for road safety, and I am aware of the number of people who have lost their lives on that road. If I remember correctly, the commitment that was made by the then Government was for £400 million. We had to come to an agreement with the Northern Ireland Executive at the time to reduce that contribution at a time when we were very strapped for cash here. Thankfully, not least in part to ten or 11 years of good economic management by successive Governments, we are now in a much better position financially, and certainly we would be happy to talk to the new executive, when it is up and running, about making a greater contribution.
I think we should because we want to help our citizens in Northern Ireland and people in Northern Ireland generally but it is also important for Donegal.