Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That sounds great. I salute all of the applicants, community activists and groups that submitted applications, but I do not think the Minister answered my question, which was whether the money could be used to help Tipperary town, which is stagnant largely owing to traffic problems. The only project of any significance to Tipperary town is the N24, Pallasgreen to Cahir road, project. According to Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the plan for the project is under development. The proposed scheme covers a section that is approximately 38 km long. Twenty years ago in Cashel we built a short bypass to the standard to which the N8 would be built and it alleviated the traffic problems in the town. Why can we not do something like it for Tipperary town? There are two options for the route. We could build it to the standard of the N24, Pallasgreen to Cahir road, a short bypass of the town which runs for between 8 km and 10 km, to allow it to breathe. No matter what projects on which we embark, hundreds of lorries pass through Tipperary town daily which leads to traffic congestion, which is the most significant problem. The people of county Tipperary are ready, willing and able to bring forward many projects, but we have to sort out the chronic traffic problems first. I have asked the Minister if the fund can be used in such cases. He spoke about applications. They are all smaller. We want to see a seismic shift.

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