I support this Private Members' motion. In the few minutes available to me, I will address a number of issues affecting south Tipperary. The N24 national primary road running from Limerick and the west through south Tipperary to Waterford and on to Rosslare is a major social and economic corridor. It serves all our major towns, including Tipperary town, Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir. Thousands of existing jobs are dependent on this roadway, as is our ability to attract new industry and jobs to south Tipperary. This national primary roadway is congested, the carriageway is substandard and many life-limiting and fatal road traffic accidents occur annually. This road requires urgent upgrading and I remind the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, of his commitment to provide funding for this roadway in 2026. He made this commitment at our meeting with him earlier this year and even stated he hoped to be in a position to allocate funding before the end of this year. I look forward to the Minister honouring that commitment, as I am sure he will. While modern, safe roadways and motorways will always be essential for social and economic life, if the Government is serious about climate change, then we must consider free public bus and train services and implement a comprehensive bus and rail network across the whole country. This must be done, not just in large towns and cities, but in rural areas, many of which are almost bereft of any form of public transport. In south Tipperary, we need the urgent upgrading of the Limerick-Waterford railway service. This line serves Limerick Junction, Tipperary town, Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir. The current service is infrequent and slow. The track requires upgrading to take faster speeds and carriages need to be modernised. The connection times to the main rail lines at Limerick Junction and Waterford need to be synchronised. Clonmel is the main population centre and the railway station building there needs to be upgraded and fully reopened to provide a modern facility for the travelling public. These measures would provide a speedy, modern and comfortable service for customers and take large numbers of private cars off the road. The recent introduction of the Local Link bus service in the town of Clonmel has been a huge success and it is used extensively. We must build on that success and extend the service to areas in the town not covered, as well as surrounding areas. These include areas like Oldbridge, Redmondstown, Powerstown, Kilsheelan, Lisronagh and Ballyclerahan. The Local Link service should also be rolled out to Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel and Tipperary town. On the insurance issue referred to in the Private Members’ motion, reforms, including personal injury guidelines, new data from the Central Bank’s national claims information database, changes in duty of care law and initiatives on insurance fraud, were introduced in recent years. Insurers demanded these changes, claiming they were needed for premiums to fall, but of course premiums have not fallen. Claim volumes have fallen by 40% and median awards are down by 33% but premiums have increased by 17% and profits at 13% are double the international norm. The insurance companies must be tackled and tackled urgently.

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