Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond, for coming to the House. I am disappointed not to see somebody from the Department of Transport here this afternoon but I thank the Minister of State for coming into the Chamber. Somebody from the Government coming in is better than nobody, I guess, so I thank him for coming in today to deal with this matter, which is of great importance to the people of Thurles, the whole of County Tipperary and the surrounding counties.

The route for a bypass road for Thurles was mooted as far back as 2011. The project was set to go ahead at that time but along with countless other national projects it was put on hold due to the financial crash. Obviously the residents of Thurles expected to see it back on the agenda post-recovery and yet the project was conspicuously absent from the 2014 national development plan. The need for this bypass project plan to be finalised and acted upon as a matter of urgency is plain to see for anyone familiar with Thurles town centre. The square in the centre of Thurles sees 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles, on average, pass through it every single day. Liberty Square serves as a meeting point of the N62 and the N75 meaning that the traffic is not just commuter vehicles but a constant flow of heavy goods vehicles, farm vehicles and articulated lorries. These HGVs are of particular concern because due to their size they have huge blind spots and can be highly dangerous in built-up areas. Thurles has seen four separate road vehicle deaths over the past 25 years, all of which were pedestrians knocked down by HGVs. Only last year one of these lorries knocked down and killed an elderly gentleman. It was a tragic accident that may well have been avoided if this bypass was in place.

Given that the national development plan is up for review next year, will the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, commit to including the Thurles bypass project in the next edition of the plan? This has been requested for well over a decade at this stage and many people have been pushing for it. An Independent councillor, Jim Ryan, has been active on this matter and has been looking to get answers from the Government. The Thurles municipal district council sent two letters to the Minister last year asking for a meeting with him on this issue but the council did not even receive a response initially. I understand that this has since been acted upon and that the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, is to meet with council members tomorrow. This is certainly welcome and we look forward to what the outcome of that meeting might be. For now, what might the Minister, Deputy Ryan, or his Department have to say on this matter? Can we expect the inclusion of the Thurles bypass project in next year's review of the 2040 national development plan?