Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It has to be recognised that traffic volumes have increased everywhere. I do not think there is any plan to deal with this.

Let us take my village of Kilgarvan, for example. The volume of traffic has increased. The volume going down through that quiet village is extraordinary. There are traffic jams now, something that never happened before in small towns and villages. That has to be recognised.

It is not about blaming the local authority. We did not get a specific improvement plan to take a turn in the road since 2009 for any road in Kerry. I am not talking about national primary or secondary roads. This has been seriously neglected - I was told by my father in 2009 that every penny available for national secondary roads would be delivered up here in Dublin for Luas, DART and every other thing. The Government is trying to get people to Dublin but they cannot come half the time because there are traffic jams. There is no recognition of providing jobs. The Government cannot provide them because we do not have the infrastructure and because the companies will not go there. Let us consider Kerry Group, the jewel in our crown. The roads were not sufficient to get into Kerry. That is where we are. It hurts me every time I pass that massive place where 900 people are employed. It should have been in the great hub in Farranfore but we have no bypass on the road to get there.

I do not accept that this is a plan for the next 23 years. There is no way in the world that it can be. I am asking other Ministers not to do it. It might barely cover two or three years. There is nothing in it that says it is a cast-iron plan for the next 23 years.