Soaring costs and shrinking funds threaten promised road projects

The promises: THE main thrust of Fianna Fail’s election promises centred on continuing the huge investment in the State’s biggest ever road-building projects.

Despite shrinking Government coffers and numerous roads falling behind schedule earlier in the year, it pledged that all projects promised under the National Development Plan would be completed by 2006.

It promised to set up a dedicated Department of Transport to focus on these issues and ensure that road, rail and aviation projects would be delivered on time. This included developing a metro system for Dublin, with particular priority given to the development of an early link to Dublin Airport.