Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome Mr. Walsh and Mr. O'Neill to our meeting and thank them for their informative presentation. My experience of TII has been good in that it is open and approachable and we normally get very accurate information from it. The general experience with TII as regards projects, which is no fault of the witnesses themselves, is that the system is very bureaucratic and cumbersome and that the extensive protocols involved in getting a project off the ground are painstakingly slow. The public find it difficult to understand that. It takes a long time to get from the lead-in to the approval stage and then we have the major problems with An Bord Pleanála.

I will ask a question on An Bord Pleanála. TII obviously has contact with An Bord Pleanála. Following that body's revamp, does TII expect an improvement in the timescales for decisions? How many projects on TII's books are with An Bord Pleanála and awaiting a decision? What is the average timeframe for such applications?

I am obviously going to get parochial here. At the start, Mr. Walsh said that the general duty of TII is "to secure the provision of a safe and efficient network of national roads". As I have regularly done in the past, I will bring to his attention a section of road on the N62 between Thurles and Horse and Jockey. The section at Turtulla Cross in particular is extremely dangerous. We have already had a fatality there and we have had numerous and regular accidents. What compounds the problem at that particular junction is the presence of a very successful regional ETB training centre. This has resulted in large volumes of traffic. Something like 400 students come there every day. There is no footpath from the main road down to the training centre. I have raised this with our council and I know it has been in contact with TII. I hope that this will be given priority, that the junction will be improved and that access, particularly pedestrian access, to the training centre will be improved to make that junction much safer.

Second, in 2008, which is a long time ago, a Government led by former Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, had a bypass for Thurles on its agenda. I had ensured this was progressed to a stage at which a very significant amount of work had been done. All of the research had been conducted. We had a preferred route. The financial crash then came in 2010 and the then Government of Fine Gael and Labour removed the project from the list. The design centre in Mungret was closed. Thurles now faces a serious issue. It is choked with traffic and it is congested. This presents a cost for businesspeople. The time it takes to get from one side of the town to the other is just ridiculous. We are at the stage where something has to be done. It is not in the current national development plan. When does that plan expire? When will it be reviewed? Will TII look at including Thurles in that plan? As I have said, it is a priority. I had brought it to a stage where it should have got the go-ahead. It is understandable that projects were dropped because of the financial position of the economy at the time but I do not know why it went from being a priority project to simply disappearing off the list completely. I would like that to be reviewed. I would like Thurles bypass to be placed back on the agenda.

With regard to the N24, I received a number of commitments from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in respect of a bypass for Tipperary town. Tipperary town has since been removed from my constituency but I have an interest in ensuring that the project is prioritised. TII recently announced details of the preferred route for the N24 from Waterford to Limerick. I have contended for some time that the Tipperary town section of that carriageway should be prioritised as one of the first sections to be delivered. I have publicly stated my reasons for that on numerous occasions. It was accepted by the Minister and TII that it should happen. Will the witnesses give me an update on that?