Transport Infrastructure Ireland

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 February 2017

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

Ceisteanna (76)

Robert Troy

Ceist:

76. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the progress being made by his Department or a body under its aegis in securing funding for critical transport infrastructure under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI); if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many other countries in the EU have secured funding for transport projects and that of the EFSI transactions approved to date, 6% are in the transport sector; and the reason Ireland, by contrast, has no funding application for critical transport projects. [6094/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport

The Department actively encourages all transport sectors to explore all avenues of finance available including domestic banks, Trans European Network-transport (TENT),  Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), European Investment Bank (EIB), Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and the  European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), to secure the most suitable funding instrument at the most favourable commercial rates. In many cases, a mix of funding instruments is used for capital projects by ports, roads aviation and public transport sectors.

There are no specific transport projects that have been assisted under the EFSI  but some have been co-funded and assisted through CEF, the EIB and INTERREG (a European Territorial Cooperation programme that aims to stimulate cross border and inter-regional cooperation in the European Union).