Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to raise the issue of road safety in the town of Charleville, County Cork, a town that will be known to the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. This has been a major concern for a long time. Unfortunately, several people in the town have died while crossing the road there. I extend our deepest sympathies to those bereaved because of the tragic loss of people on the street in Charleville. The town is at the heart of Munster and is a very busy market town. Many people are employed around it and there is also great activity in it. It is on the N20 road between Cork and Limerick, so there is a phenomenal level of traffic going through the town daily.

I raise this issue of road safety in the context of ongoing developments concerning the advancement of the N20 and the motorway project. This must be prioritised and treated as an urgent issue. We understand and accept, though, the reality that completion of this project is some time away. In the meantime, road safety issues will have to be taken into account in Charleville. I have been working with Councillor Ian Doyle on this matter and he has a motion to discuss this issue before the northern committee of the county council next week as well.

I am trying to get across the real dangers concerning road safety issues in the town of Charleville. People are crossing the street and risking their lives daily, as has happened very recently. Representatives of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, the local authority and the Department of Transport must prioritise this matter to ensure remedial work is done immediately to try to alleviate these dangers and make sure addressing road safety issues in the town of Charleville is paramount.

As we wait for the bypass to be completed, the Department, the local authority and TII must consider an intermediary measure to try to develop some way to have heavy goods vehicles bypass the town centre. In the long term, this would also lead to the development of lands on the Limerick side of Charleville. For those people driving from Cork to Limerick, it would be on the right-hand side of the town. I refer to examining the possibility of putting in a link or relief road. The roads are getting busier and economic activity in the town and along the route to it is increasing with every passing day. While the priority is to ensure the bypass happens, in the meantime we must also ensure measures are taken to protect people's lives and improve road safety in Charleville.

The frightening thing about this is that people there are losing their lives. The N20 is probably one of the most dangerous routes in the country at this stage. It is a serious issue. We want the Minister, the Department of Transport, TII and the local authority to collaborate to find a solution in the short term that will ensure road safety issues are addressed and people are able to go about their business in Charleville while being assured of their safety. This means the immediate installation of a relief or link road on the right-hand side of the town, as people are going from Cork to Limerick. I ask this because we will be waiting for five years, and possibly more, for the major infrastructure in the shape of the bypass to happen. I ask the Minister of State to take this issue back to the Department as a matter of urgency. Many issues are raised here but this is one of life and death and concerns a situation where people have lost their lives on the streets of Charleville. There are very few other towns in the country we could say that about.

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