Plans for £27 billion spending in south and east to be debated today

Spending plans costing more than £27 billion will be discussed when the Government meets the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly in Cork tomorrow.

Simultaneously, the National Roads Authority will hold a press conference in Dublin, announcing its plans for 2000 which include a total of eight major road schemes, the majority of which are in the southern and eastern region.

The schemes to be announced will include the Dublin Port Tunnel, the South Eastern Motorway, the M1 Cloghran to Lissenhall, the N7 Limerick Southern Ring, the N8 Watergrasshill bypass in Cork and the N11 Glen of the Downs. The appointment of main contracts for the Kildare (M7) and Drogheda bypasses will also be announced.

With many of the region's bypasses now constructed, it is planned to construct or improve dual carriageways between Dublin and the principal cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, and the Border by 2006.

The National Roads Authority will also detail its aims to reduce the period from initial planning to the start of construction "from typically more than five years to less than 3 1/2 years".

The Cork meeting will concentrate on investment in railways to include further upgrading of the lines to Tralee, Limerick and Waterford, as well as the development of additional commuter facilities in Cork city and the greater Dublin area.

In addition to the high-profile commuter systems in Dublin, plans suggested include the extension of Cork commuter services to Midleton and Mallow and upgrading the track and signalling systems. The reopening of the interregional route from Ennis to Claremorris, which would link large areas of the west to Cork by rail, has also been suggested.

The meeting is likely to hear some debate on the volume of traffic through the region's ports, particularly the possibility of diverting some cargo from Dublin port to other ports in the region. The prospect for the development of non-state-owned airports at Waterford and Tralee is also likely to be addressed, as is the extension of electrical and telecommunications infrastructure.

While in Cork, members of the Cabinet, who will hold their own Cabinet meeting in the offices of the Holyhill Youth Project, are expected to meet the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly in private session in the afternoon at the Commons Inn, Commons Road. At 3.00 p.m. there are to be separate forums to deal with aspects of the National Development Plan, which are to be addressed by the relevant ministers present.