The N24 national primary route is a vital social and economic corridor across the southern part of County Tipperary. It links Limerick and all points between to the major port of Rosslare and is a particularly important route for Tipperary town, Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir.

Since 2003, which is 15 years ago, we have had promises of bypass roads for Tipperary town and Carrick-on-Suir and the upgrading of the roadway to motorway status. Minister after Minister has promised these developments and has met deputation after deputation in the county but they have failed to deliver. Most recently, a very detailed case was made to the Minister, Deputy Ross, showing how a project combining the M20 from Limerick to Cork and the N24 from Limerick to Cahir could be done with a saving of hundreds of millions of euro. That deputation, too, has fallen on deaf ears. Again in the 2019 roads programme there is no mention of the N24. It has been overlooked again. Worse still, the next ten-year so-called pipeline programme makes it clear that the upgrading of the N24 will be at least another ten years hence. That is 25 years altogether. The roadway and improvements to it are effectively in permanent suspension.

This is unacceptable. It is detrimental to the towns of Tipperary and Carrick-on-Suir. Some 7,000 vehicles a day, including heavy goods vehicles, choke the main street of Tipperary town and choke O'Mahony Avenue in Carrick-on-Suir. This traffic brings no economic value or advantage to the towns and indeed damages the towns as locations for retail, business and industry. It is no wonder that these towns have levels of unemployment four or five times the national average, in excess of 20%. They have been neglected by this and previous Governments. I ask the Minister to approve the upgrading of the N24 immediately, including the bypasses of Tipperary town and Carrick-on-Suir, and to establish a jobs task force to tackle the very serious levels of unemployment in both towns.

I am deputising for the Taoiseach today. I very much regret that it is not within my powers to direct or order the immediate sanction for the upgrading of a road in Deputy Healy's constituency. I am, however, very much aware of that road, traversing as it does the Tipperary constituency from Rosslare Port and leading ultimately to Limerick. I am unable to give sanction today, nor am I in a position to provide Deputy Healy with a progress report. Had he given me notice of his intention to raise the issue, I could have furnished him with an update. What I will do is make immediate contact after these questions with my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross.

Problem solved.

I will acknowledge in that regard, however, that last week's budget did see an additional €1.26 billion in capital expenditure being allocated to that Department over the allocation for 2018 to 2021 to that Department. I am not sure the extent to which Deputy Healy has engaged by way of deputation to my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Ross.

Good luck with that.

He could get the bus to that.

Where is he? Where is the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport?

With the assent of Deputy Healy and having regard to the fact that I am not in a position to grant his request, what I can do is certainly recommend to my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Ross, that consideration would be given, notwithstanding his very heavy diary commitments-----

-----towards a deputation to meet Deputy Healy at the earliest opportunity.

Deputy Ross is looking after Deputy Flanagan's brief. Let Deputy Flanagan do the roads and Deputy Ross do the judges.

I remind the Minister that both he and his Government have had at least seven years' notice and previous Governments have had 15 years' notice of this situation. Of course, I did say in my few words that we had met the Minister, Deputy Ross, very recently but our appeals to him have fallen on deaf ears as well. I am appealing to the Government. These towns have been neglected for years. They have been neglected and condemned to a situation where, as I have said, they are being choked by 7,000 vehicles every day. They were left out of the regional development plans by the previous Government whereby a number of towns were earmarked for construction of industrial and office accommodation and facilities by IDA Ireland.

These towns are very vibrant with very good community, social, cultural and sporting organisations, and they have always tried to help themselves, but they need Government support now. The key Government supports they need are the upgrading of the N24 and a task force addressing the serious unemployment levels. We need IDA Ireland to target those towns for job creation and development. While I acknowledge that the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, is standing in for the Taoiseach today, I want him to bring this issue back to the Taoiseach and ask him to take up the issues and approve the initiatives I have raised because they are vital for these towns.

I agree with Deputy Healy that this is an important issue regarding the N24 and other infrastructural projects in the regions. I want to make a brief comment on the importance of the regional Action Plan for Jobs and the success of that programme since it was introduced by the former Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, some years ago. Notwithstanding what Deputy Healy has said about unacceptable levels of unemployment in towns across south Tipperary, including Carrick-on-Suir, Cahir and Clonmel, I point out that there has been something of a favourable change in the live register figures for south Tipperary since 2012, where live register figures have dropped by over 50%. It is important that Government policies for the regions continue to focus on regional development through the local enterprise offices, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to ensure that people in the regions and in south Tipperary have an opportunity to live and work in areas they have chosen. I will be very happy to convey the Deputy's comments directly to the Taoiseach as soon as he returns from Brussels.