Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand there will be concerns among some who would favour the M20 route but many would not. The M20 plans as they are would create a bottleneck in Blackpool for example. There is also the fact the M24 route would adhere to the route now known as the N24 whereas the M20 would not, and would have to run off-line into greenfield sites. Surely the Government would recognise this is the least attractive option in terms of the ecological impact.

There are towns that will need their own bypasses but I know the Minister of State has been an advocate of smaller bypasses to free up towns, and the cost savings involved in the alternative to the M20 would resolve the costs. The Minister of State must also take rail into account. The Limerick Junction to Waterford service suits no one. The Ballybrophy line has untapped potential to link vast swathes of the country if properly used. The Minister of State knows that money is one thing but using existing infrastructure in a manner that services local communities can save a lot of financial headaches.

Communities living along the N24, particularly Tipperary town, must have real and immediate attention when it comes to the traffic chaos they face every day. It is 40 years since Tipperary town was first promised a bypass and it has been repeatedly pushed back. It is totally unfair on such a town that it has so much heavy traffic. The Minister of State knows what it is like. He is aware of how the town has been done a huge disservice through a malfunctioning N24 and poorly utilised railway service. I urge the Minister of State to do whatever he can within his capabilities to prioritise the Tipperary town bypass and free the town from the stranglehold of the N24. Tomorrow, there will be a meeting on the preferred routes and later in the year the actual route will be selected. There is still no guarantee it will go into the national transport plan.

The first priority is to make sure that is part of the national transport plan. There is no point in choosing a route and then saying in 40 years' time that it was never put on the national plan. I urge the Minister of State and Government to put the N24 at the top of their list. It is one of the areas between Limerick and Waterford that is a bottleneck.

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