Durkan asks if ‘string attached’ to Dublin’s £88.5m for A5 and if it will be spent this year

Transcript

00:00Minister, in her recent Budget statement, the Finance Minister provided an earmarked

00:05capital allocation of £85.6 million to DFI for the A6 and the Belfast transport hub.

00:14Can the Minister tell us how much of this will be spent on the A6 and how exactly it

00:19will be spent?

00:20Minister?

00:21On the A6, well, there's continuing, obviously, negotiations between my officials and the

00:31contractor.

00:32As you know, the A6 completion works opened this time last year, but there's still ongoing

00:38discussions between my officials and the contractor in terms of signing off on that contract,

00:42the final payment.

00:43That's obviously significantly, a significant commercially sensitive engagement, which

00:49I can't go into in any further detail.

00:51We are also, obviously, looking at how we move forward with the next phase of the A6.

00:55The Member will be aware of that in terms of the Moye dump site, and we're engaging

00:58with the environmental agency and others around that to ensure that whatever successful conclusion

01:05comes to that, it takes into account the needs of my department in terms of moving that project

01:09forward.

01:10I thank the Minister for his answer.

01:15The same statement included the very welcome inclusion of the £88 million from the Dublin

01:20Government for the A5.

01:22Can the Minister confirm if there are any strings attached to that funding in terms

01:26of when the money must be spent by, and if he intends to allocate any of DfIE's capital

01:33budget to the A5 this year?

01:35Minister?

01:36Whether I'm able to allocate funding to the A5 this year depends on my position when I

01:44make my announcement later on in the summer in relation to the A5, and respond to the

01:48recommendations of the Planning Appeals Commission's report.

01:52In terms of strings attached to the contribution from the Dublin Government, I wouldn't put

01:58it in terms of strings attached, but obviously they will want to be assured that their money

02:01is being used effectively and efficiently, and for the purpose for which it has been

02:05designated to my department, and I can assure you and others that that will be the case

02:11if and when I make my announcement later on in the summer.