N24 road project
Senator Ahearn argued that the N24 road project needs further funding and ministerial priority, noting progress on the route choice but delays in the Cahir to Waterford section. Interjections from Senator Craughwell did not change the subject.
The N24 road is the link road between Waterford city and Limerick.
Comment on this
I am raising it again because it is at a very key point in the process.
The route was chosen a number of days ago. That has meant that the buffer zone that will happen with the planning of the new road has been reduced significantly to 300 m. That has been presented to the public and, obviously, there is concern with where the new road is going and whose land it is going through and things like that. It is a positive thing, however, and it is progressing along nicely.
Comment on this
We have succeeded. It has taken a long fight but I will now start another fight. It has not got funding to continue to design stage yet. That needs approval by the Minister for Transport. It needs to be prioritised as quickly as possible. As the Leader knows, that route is divided into two sections, one of which is from Limerick Junction to Cahir. That is in design stage at the moment and moving along well. However, the section from Cahir to Waterford is approximately one year behind it, essentially. We cannot have what happened in previous stages of this process, which is a delay or a decision not to fund it, and then we have to start a campaign to try to get it funded. We need a decision by the Minister for Transport as quickly as possible to say that he recognises we are now at a stage where we need to make a decision on funding the design up to when a planning decision or planning application would be made. I ask that this decision be made as quickly as possible.
People who have houses or families with farms who have houses and potentially want to build are within that buffer zone. Until it gets to design stage and the road is actually designed, that buffer zone will not reduce any more. It is 300 m wide at the moment. It will reduce to 100 m six months after the design stage starts. For the design stage to start, however, we need the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to commit to funding this. I ask that we get that done as quickly as possible so that the people who live on the rural stretch of that road can have certainty as quickly as possible.
