Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
532. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide details of recent meetings with Louth County Council and-or his Department to progress the Narrow Water Bridge project; the current status of the project; the funding that has been provided to date; the projected overall cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42341/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Narrow Water Bridge is a cross-border project led by Louth County Council and supported by the Shared Island Fund, which is designed to fund strategic north-south projects that implement the commitments and objectives on Shared Island set out in the Programme for Government. The bridge will connect Cornamucklagh near Omeath, Co Louth with Narrow Water near Warrenpoint, Co Down.
Following a Government decision in June 2021, An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin announced the approval of an initial €3m in funding from the Shared Island Fund to take the project forward to tender stage. Work is underway in this regard, led by Louth County Council and overseen by my Department in this jurisdiction, and the Department of Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The Government is committed in its support for this important project, with funding for future years to be determined once firm costings are available and the tender development process has been completed.
To date there have been nine meetings of the Narrow Water Bridge Sub Group to progress this project and another is planned for September. The last meeting of the North South (NS) Senior Officials Group (SOG) on New Decade New Approach (NDNA) for Infrastructure and Investment was in June 2022, the next meeting of this group is also scheduled for September 2022.
