The budget allocation for Transport 21 projects

Date: 08 May 2008

Dáil Question
No’s: 19, 59 & 70

*To ask the Minister for Transport if the funding for all of the major infrastructure projects outlined in Transport 21 has been ring-fenced until their full delivery in 2015 and beyond; the way his Department has prioritised the delivery of Transport 21 projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
- Joe Costello. (Nominated by: Thomas P. Broughan).

For ORAL answer on Thursday, 8th May, 2008.

Answered by the Minister for Transport

(Noel Dempsey TD)

REPLY

I propose to take Questions 19, 59 & 70 together.

At the launch of Transport 21, the Government identified the projects in the national roads, public transport and regional airports sectors that it wished to see prioritised for development in the ten-year period from 2006 to 2015 with an overall investment of €34 billion.

The prioritisation was influenced by a number of relevant studies carried out in the years leading up to the launch such as the National Road Needs Study, the Strategic Rail Review and the DTO Strategy document ‘A Platform for Change’.

The Government has committed to the overall funding for Transport 21 over its ten-year life to 2015. The Exchequer element of the funding is provided through the normal annual budget and estimates exercise. For the first three years of Transport 21, the capital funding provided is in line with the originally agreed profile of expenditure. I have no reason to believe that the funding requirement for the remaining years of Transport 21 will not be met.