Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2024
197. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Transport to outline when and if the Government will sign off on the business plan for the TEN-T project in Donegal as submitted by the Donegal National Roads Office. [4066/24]
View answerAs Minister for Transport I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the planning, design and construction of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. This is also subject to the Public Spending Code and the necessary statutory approvals. In this context, TII is best placed to advise you.
Donegal County Council has submitted the Preliminary Business Case for the Donegal TEN-T project to my Department. As is required under the Public Spending Code, the business case must be reviewed by the Department, and undergo an External Assurance process. The procurement of the External Assurance reviewer has taken place and it is expected that this review will commence shortly. The review will examine the project in regard to it's alignment with national policy, affordability, and to ensure that all options have been considered.
Once completed, the Preliminary Business case will be submitted to the Government for approval at Decision Gate 1 of the Public Spending Code. I expect that this to take place in early Quarter 2 of this year.
