‘Just appalling’ - South East TDs criticise chopped N24 Waterford to Cahir scheme
The N24 Waterford to Cahir scheme is at an impasse.
Deputies from the South East Region condemned the stalled N24 Waterford to Cahir during a Dáil debate.
Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath raised the floundering project this week inside the Dáil chamber. The Independent TD said: “Only €80,000 was given in 2025 to keep the project alive. It did not keep it alive; it actually wound it down. The councils of Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny met last Monday night. They are very anxious that this will go ahead.”
Deputy McGrath pointed to the high number of road casualties in the region: “The number of fatalities over the decades has been just appalling. Twenty-five percent of all fatalities are on that part of the road, which goes from Foynes Port to Rosslare Europort and on to Waterford Port. It is so important for infrastructure, connectivity, trade, business, tourism and everything.
He later added: “The 65 km stretch, which is through Tipperary, is 1% of the county's road network yet accounts for 25% of road fatalities, which the Minister of State will agree is an alarming and unacceptable statistic.”
The Deputy for Tipperary South ended: “I cannot impress enough how important this is for people living on the route, farming on the route and people who want to get planning permission for anything else. This development must get the green light.”
Deputy Michael Murphy (Fine Gael) appealed to the Minister of State to call for swift intervention the Department of Transport, TII and the Minister for Transport. He said: “It is not a local issue. It is a bottleneck that is affecting connectivity between Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford and ultimately the functioning of our ports and supply chains. The N24 is a spine linking two major cities yet one half of the corridor moves ahead while the other is left waiting. That is simply not tenable.”
Waterford TD Conor McGuinness added his support, alongside Deputy David Cullinane, for the project to move forward to the Detailed Design stage. He said: “I know Deputies from Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny are supportive of that and working in unison to get the Government to do the right thing by the N24.” Deputy Cullinane stated: “The only funding that was given from the Government this year was to buy out the contract of the company that actually did the work on the preferred route. There are real concerns that this vital road is now being put on hold.
“The Waterford to Limerick road really needs to be improved. Deputy Conor McGuinness and I, and all the Oireachtas Members from across the affected counties, will continue to raise this to ensure that it gets proper funding next year.”
