Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I would appreciate it if he could take what I am about to say back to the Minister. The Department says the link roads cannot be viewed in isolation, but the Minister is doing that in the context of Tipperary town. On part of the road that is being constructed, the Minister has said that Tipperary town will be looked at in isolation in the context of a bypass of 7 km or 8 km for the town as opposed to the whole project. I am asking the Minister to look at Clonmel in isolation just has he has done with Tipperary town and to say that these have to be completed as a matter of urgency. We might not be able to do or fund the whole project initially, but what we can do is prioritise the two link roads just as the Minister has prioritised Tipperary town and its bypass. I am asking for nothing different from what the Minister has done. The Dunkettle roundabout opened this week. That is really positive but it took a long time to get to construction. The Frank Drohan Road is a car park for most of the day. It is no different to the M50 at 5 p.m. It is just a smaller road, obviously, but in terms of traffic and getting from place to place, it is a car park. People make decisions not to travel to places or go into town at that time simply because traffic is so bad.

I am simply asking that the Minister for Transport look at Clonmel in the same way as he has looked at Tipperary town, namely, in isolation. Continue the design if the design phase has to continue and fund it for the next year - because, as far as I am aware, it might not be funded - get it completed and then construct the two link roads. It is only just over 1 km long. It is easy to do.