Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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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?

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme.Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the roads Acts 1993 to 2015 and in line with the national development plan, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TII in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.

TII ultimately delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework, and the NDP. The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP. This funding will enable improved regional accessibility throughout the country as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic outcomes. The funding will provide for the developmentof numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects which are already at construction stage and those close to it as well as the development of a number of others. As the greater portion of this funding becomes available in the second half of the decade, this means there is a constraint on the funding available for new projects this year. However, most national road projects in the NDP will continue to be progressed in 2024.

A major priority in the NDP, in line with Department's investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road network. The NDP foresees an Exchequer allocation of circa €2.9 billion for the protection and renewal of existing national roads over the ten-year period for 2030, allocated fairly evenly across the decade. Approximately €491 million of Exchequer capital funds have been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2023. The 2024 allocations will be announced in the very near future.

A national roads bypass for Thurles was considered but the project was suspended in 2011, primarily due to the economic downturn. The project was not included in the current national development plan which was announced in 2021, or indeed in the previous NDP. Therefore, TII and Tipperary County Council have not been in a position to provide further funding for the project at this time. The Thurles inner relief road is a regional road project being developed by Tipperary County Council, however. This scheme comprises an inner relief road between the N62 national secondary road at the junction with Clongour Road and the Mill Road to the east of the River Suir. This project is mentioned in the NDP as being at the early stages of planning and design and subject to the appropriate approvals. The capital plan published in September 2015 outlined proposed transport investment priorities to 2022. The Thurles inner relief road was not included among the projects identified for development during that period. However, the Department, through the strategic regional and local roads grant, allocated funding in 2022 and 2023 to facilitate Tipperary County Council in progressing the scheme towards completion. Strategic grant allocations for 2024 will be notified to local authorities as part of the general grant allocation process which will be issued in the coming weeks. I have no doubt that members of the community and indeed Tipperary County Council will be able to get more detail from the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, at their meeting this week, when he will be able to provide a timeline or indeed indication as to funding.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response. In regard to the last line of the response, that the strategic grant allocation 2024 will be notified to local authorities as part of general grant allocation process which will be issued in the coming weeks, I hope this particular development will be part of that. This is of interest to the Thurles municipal district council and to the public. It is to be hoped it will allow them to be prepared for the meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, tomorrow.

We are looking at Tipperary this afternoon but there is not a county in the country that does not have projects like this. We have the Slane bypass in County Meath. Once promised, they are never delivered and a sea of excuses and red tape comes between locals and their badly needed improvements to infrastructure and amenities.

Looking at the Exchequer tax intake, it seems we are experiencing some years of plenty. It would be worthwhile investing that money in projects such as this to improve the country. We never know when the years of famine might come. We have money in the Exchequer now for these large projects. It is important that when we have the money, it is spent on the communities that need it most.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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As I mentioned at the outset, the allocations for 2024 are expected to be announced in the near future. The Senator is right that we have been very fortunate to have a record tax take in recent years, both in terms of income tax and corporate tax. However, the investment being put into infrastructure, society and preparation for the future is very clear, as is the ability to put money away because, given times of famine were referenced by the Senator, when we had a rainy day fund before, we needed it very quickly when the rain started falling. That is prudent and sensible. We will also have a strategic sovereign wealth fund whereby we will be able to invest in the future. We are one of the few European economies that has grown and is able to run at a surplus. We are investing heavily in infrastructure in terms of roads, public transport, housing and business improvements we need. I will take the points made by Senator Keogan directly to the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I have no doubt those interested will be able to elicit a more direct response from the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, this week.