Earlier this week, I attended a public meeting organised by the Taoiseach's constituency colleague Fine Gael Senator Emer Currie who is with us today in the Chamber. It related to the Silver Bridge, which links Waterstown Park in Palmerstown to the Strawberry Beds in Lucan. The bridge is currently being repaired and restored through a €1.5 million investment but it is not being reopened. Obviously it would cost an awful lot more than that to ensure it is safe to be reopened to pedestrians. There are also land ownership issues at play. Paul from the Rebuild the Silver Bridge campaign and Joe from the Liffey Valley Park Alliance spoke at the meeting while Senator Currie gave a very good presentation outlining the potential the bridge offers if it was to reopen in terms of connectivity, tourism, and the creation of a Liffey Valley park and as a local amenity for the community. Will the Government look at funding local authorities to do a feasibility study on this, as suggested by Senator Currie, which was fairly endorsed at the meeting this week?

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this important issue. I recognise Senator Currie's work on it. The area straddles both our constituencies. On a number of occasions in the past, the Government has allocated funding to restore the Silver Bridge and for some reason or another, it was not drawn down, so I hope it actually happens this time. That in itself would be very significant progress. I would love to see the bridge reopened to pedestrians so they could cross the river and avail of the amenities on both sides of the river, including Waterstown Park in the Deputy's constituency.

I would have thought it is something that the local authority could have funded out of its own resources or perhaps jointly with South Dublin County Council but we are happy to examine any proposal for Government co-funding as well.