Fianna Fail has called on the Transport Minister to allocate funding to develop an additional slip road to alleviate the level of congestion in the North County.

The new road would serve people travelling from Donabate, Portrane, Rush, Lusk and Skerries.

Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee questioned Minister Shane Ross, however she said that the "infrastructural needs of the people of North County Dublin are not a major priority".

She said: "The continuing rise in population combined with the construction of 4,000 new units and National Forensic Hospital, which is currently underway, will place subsequent pressure on the surrounding road network.

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"Failing to plan for growth or future demand on roads will undoubtedly weaken our local transport infrastructure. It is crucial as a local representative that I raise these concerns now rather than after they have happened.

"When Ireland's largest building, Tesco's distribution centre was built in 2007, the local authority received in the region of €8.5million. It is my belief that some of this money should have been properly invested to improve our road network for it to cope with the additional pressure put on the roads in and out of the centre.

"A second slip road to the M1 would help support the surrounding population of almost 25,000 people, most of which commute to and from work in the Greater Dublin Area."

(CD/MH)