Waterford Chamber, along with the Chambers of Commerce representing Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary and Wexford have jointly called on Government to make an urgent commitment to delivering the N24 as a single strategic transport corridor linking Limerick and Waterford during the lifetime of the current Government. Together, the five Chambers represent more than 2,220 member businesses employing approximately 111,000 people across the Southern Region.
A joint letter signed by the CEOs of the five chambers was issued to Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien and Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Jack Chambers, in which the Chambers outlined the significant economic and regional development benefits of progressing the N24 project and warned that continued delays are undermining business competitiveness, investment, and regional connectivity.
According to Gerald Hurley, CEO Waterford Chamber, “The current N24 route is a major constraint on economic growth, with unreliable journey times, congestion in towns along the corridor, and poor network resilience increasing costs for businesses and reducing access to labour, markets, and key infrastructure such as ports. They contend that businesses need clarity and confidence regarding the delivery timeline for the project.
“The N24 has been talked about for 20 years, that's long enough. Businesses across the region now need certainty, a clear timeline and a commitment from Government to get this road delivered. It is essential for balanced regional development, attracting investment and ensuring the South East and Mid-West can reach their full economic potential.
While welcoming the Government’s commitment to accelerating infrastructure delivery through the Critical Infrastructure Bill, the Chambers stressed that projects of strategic regional importance, such as the N24, must not be left behind. They highlighted that the entire N24 corridor is essential to achieving the balanced regional development objectives set out in Project Ireland 2040 and should be viewed as a critical implementation tool for national policy.
The Chambers noted that support for the N24 exists across national and regional policy frameworks, including successive National Development Plans, the Programme for Government, the Southern Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy, and multiple local authority development plans. However, they stated that despite years of policy endorsement, project delivery remains fragmented, underfunded and unacceptably slow.
In particular, the Chambers expressed concern that the Cahir to Limerick Junction project is only expected to complete Phase 3 in the third quarter of 2026, while the Waterford to Cahir project received just €500,000 in funding this year to enter Phase 3. They warned that a 2030+ construction horizon for one section, combined with the absence of a comparable timetable for the other, does not represent a credible end-to-end delivery programme.
The group has put forward four key recommendations:
- The N24 should be treated as a single strategic Limerick-Waterford corridor rather than two separate schemes.
- The Cahir-Limerick project should proceed to statutory planning without further delay, supported by adequate funding and timely approvals.
- The Waterford-Cahir project should receive a multi-annual Phase 3 and Phase 4 funding commitment to provide certainty on its progression.
- The Waterford-Cahir scheme should be included in the next national project delivery schedule, with clear milestones for appraisal, planning, procurement and construction.
The Chambers have requested a meeting with both Ministers and their officials to discuss the project and to outline the importance of delivering a clear, funded and time-bound programme for the N24 corridor.
