Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Leader on his position and I wish him well. It looks like we have a fairly full House today so if he will be answering questions he might be half the day replying to everyone. I am sure that will change in time.

I ask that we have a debate with the new Minister for Transport at the earliest convenience. The previous Minister, Eamon Ryan, did an awful lot of good work in certain areas in terms of public transport, walkways and cycleways but in the previous programme for Government there was an agreement for two thirds spending on public transport and one third spending on roads. That was a challenge for the previous Government with regard to road projects throughout the country which are a priority and need to be done. One in particular, the N24, is in my area. Tomorrow morning the Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council will host a meeting with elected representatives from Kilkenny and Tipperary, including Oireachtas Members, to outline what will happen with the project. This road project was funded up to a certain point. It had almost reached planning stage when funding was stopped in 2024. It needs an extra €2 million to get to planning stage and then it will be a decision for the Government to decide to construct it.

The challenge we have in Tipperary and Kilkenny is that people in many areas in the buffer zone cannot build. Farming families cannot build a house or change anything on their site because they are in buffer zone where a road might be built. The funding to build that road has been paused. We need to make a decision that we will not do it and allow people to get on with their lives and build a house or do whatever they want to their farmland, or fund it with the extra €2 million to get it to planning stage. The reason this is so important is that if we do not do anything in the next couple of years we will have to go right back to the very start where we were five years ago. We have already spent €5 million on the project. Essentially we will have wasted €5 million if we do not get it to planning stage. If we do get it to planning stage and complete it, no matter what happens at least we will be at a point where we do not have to go backwards. Any future Government could then state that once it is in a position to do so the road can be constructed. This is one example but there are numerous examples throughout the country. We have all travelled the country and met councillors. There are big issues regarding housing, disability and health. If we speak to councillors in rural areas, the main issue is with regard to road projects. I would really appreciate if we could have a meeting with the new Minister for Transport to outline his vision of what he wants to deliver in the next five years.