The Government is committed to delivering Project Ireland 2040 within the overall multi-year resource envelope that has been set out. For 2019, the capital allocation has increased by €1,325 million or just over 22% above the 2018 allocation as stated in the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2019.
The planning and implementation of the A5 upgrade project is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland authorities. Following on from the outcome of judicial review proceedings regarding the scheme last year, my Department continues to liaise with the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure (DfI) regarding next steps in relation to the project and the timeframes involved.
DfI now intends to issue for consultation an Addendum to its previously published Environmental Statement. This should result in a new decision which may in turn be the subject of a further legal challenge. In this context it is not possible to state definitively when construction of Phase 1a of the A5 project will commence.
Allowing for the time required for public consultation on the scheme statutory documentation, a new DfI decision on the scheme and the possibility of a further legal challenge, it is understood that late 2019 is the earliest that construction could start subject to a decision to proceed with the scheme and the outcome of any further legal challenges. In the event of a further legal challenge, it could be early 2020 before construction could start.
It is envisaged that payments from the Irish State will be based on an agreed protocol and would be linked to the achievement of construction stage milestones. In that context, the provision of funding in the financial year 2019 is no longer considered appropriate and accordingly it has been identified as a budgetary adjustment which could be made this year without direct impact on the progress of projects included in Project Ireland 2040.
