Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. I thank him for taking this Commencement matter. It is an important one for me. It concerns the N24, which runs from Limerick to Waterford and is a key, strategic route. Work has been done on a future upgrade of the road. The work entails two sections, the first from Limerick Junction to Cahir and the second from Cahir to Waterford. The first is about a year ahead of the other and its proposed route is going through the design phase. The proposed route for the second section, from Cahir to Waterford, was picked last month, and funding is now needed for the design. What I am hearing in this regard from the Department is not positive. I might have to submit another Commencement matter to seek funding to keep it going.

Included in the proposed N24 project are two link roads in Clonmel, connecting Cashel Road, Fethard Road and Frank Drohan Road. The link roads have been included in the project to try to ease the traffic going along Frank Drohan Road. The amount of traffic there has been a problem for the town for years. As part of the new project, Frank Drohan Road will be the new, improved N24.

One of the two link roads is to go from the Ard Gaoithe Business Park roundabout across to the Fethard Road, just north of Clonard. The second, which is also really important, is to go from Longfield estate across to the Paddocks roundabout and then across to the Carrigeen roundabout. The really important point is that half of these link roads are done already. Those from the town know the roundabouts have been completed. The Paddocks roundabout has no link roads off it. The link roads were proposed in 2008 and it is now 14 years later. There was to be funding but there was a crash. We now have a new plan in place.

It is a big project to complete a road from Waterford to Limerick. This is really important. I am aware there are big projects right across the country and that not all of them will be completed, but I am saying that irrespective of whether the whole project is completed, be it in five, ten or 15 years, the two link roads should be built as a matter of urgency. They amount to only 1.8 km. Half of one of the link roads is done already. You would have to go through only one field, nearly, to complete it. The cost to the Department of Transport would not be excessive. If we build the link road from Frank Drohan Road, we will reduce a lot of the traffic in Clonmel. Ultimately, much of the traffic on Cashel Road and Fethard Road is because of big multinationals in the town, including Abbott and Boston Scientific, and the business park at Ard Gaoithe. An awful lot of traffic goes through this area in the morning and it all goes down to the Cashel Road and Fethard Road roundabouts. The new design will alleviate the traffic problem. For the town itself, we should be considering the link roads separately from the full N24 project.