Catherine Callaghan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I would like to shine a light on the dire need for an increased roads budget in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. The programme for Government states that the Government will invest in all road projects in the current national development plan, NDP, and consider additional important road projects as part of the NDP review. We all know we are in the midst of a housing crisis. Across Carlow town and county, we have builders and developers lining up to help us in that regard. There are landowners who would happily sell to a developer to help their towns and villages to create homes. We also have people willing to purchase homes in Carlow town and county to make Carlow a place where they want to live, work and raise a family. However, there is a massive impediment to this development and that is the lack of access to potential sites for home building due to the need for more investment in our roads in Carlow and Kilkenny. Will the Taoiseach ensure that three roads in my constituency - the Tullow town ring road, the Carlow town ring road and the Kilkenny city ring road - are included in the national development plan?

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