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

It is a very important committee. It has a very important role to play as there are a lot of issues with our roads.

I welcome all the witnesses. I thank them for their work. They dwelt a lot on road regulations, and the penalties and speed limits and all that but alongside that, we need to deal with the issues with our roads. Sadly, there has been an increase in fatalities. We need to dwell and look at each individual case. One fella who lived ten miles away from me was killed at a rally at the weekend. Damian Fleming was always very careful and was not driving when it happened but, sadly, his funeral is this evening. He was very well respected and was always a very careful boy on the road.

We have to deal with the massive increase in the volume of traffic. As members may know, I was an elected member of Kerry County Council for more than 20 years. I dealt with a lot of issues relating to road quality, road surfaces and road safety. I will point out to Mr. Waide that county councils have been, and are, very active and very vocal. There are five municipal areas in County Kerry and five municipal meetings. I look at the motions and table some myself. My family is involved and are county council members as well. We are very active and vocal about roads and looking for funding.

I will mention one particular road, the Killarney bypass, otherwise known as the Cork-Kerry economic corridor. We have been promised that road for more than 20 years now. Going back to 2018, the figure given for vehicular movements on the current road, which we hope to bypass, was 18,600. The figure for last year is now more than 23,000. I believe it has gone up again since then because the volumes are massive. There is an increase in the volume of vehicles on the road, whether it is cars, lorries or anything. To take the little village of Kilgarvan where I live, people cannot leave our pub from the front of it now. They have to watch to get a chance because cars are coming down, coming out from Kenmare, and coming behind them down the local bog road from the school and all that. Every road is thronged with traffic. We need to dwell on the condition of our roads, our junctions, the way our hedges are not trimmed back, and where trees are overhanging. If a lorry goes up a road that touches all the trees and a lady comes behind with a car full of children, there are branches falling down in front of her. We could and should be able to do something about those kind of things. Money should not come into question if we can save one life, surely, for what it costs to do that kind of work.

Another simple issue to address is that of waterlogged roads. The roads are all flooded today. We get a lot of warnings on the radio to watch and go slow, which is great. There are simple things, such as ponding water at the side of the road, which was previously dealt with by a section man in the council, who is not allowed to go out on the road on his own now to open and let the pond of water go. It would take five minutes and a mighty job would be done.

It would make a mighty difference in making a road safe for people who may not know it. Perhaps the likes of us who travel every road know where the issues are and where the ponding will be. Simple measures like this should be taken. It can cause the wheel to be pulled or whipped out of someone's hand and then the person cannot see where they are going with water splashing all over the windscreen.

I am amazed by a particular new road that has been built. Back in my father's time, we had been agitating for the Macroom bypass. To think this new infrastructure is in place is great in one way. However, is a two-lane motorway and there is no space for a vehicle that breaks down. That vehicle would have to stay in one of the lanes, most likely the inside lane, with vehicles coming up behind it doing 100 km/h. There are three or four spots but someone would have to break down where they are. There is no lane to pull in to. It is absolutely ridiculous.

Likewise, there is junction coming onto the bypass from Millstreet, which is a major town in Cork. There is no slip lane to get onto the road. This is new infrastructure. It is not the fault of the contractors but the designers. It is not the fault of the people in charge of building the road. At design stage, surely a slip lane should have been included. It is the case on every other motorway in the country. This is the only one that does not have a slip lane and it is the newest one. We do not have a slip lane coming from Millstreet onto the road. There have already been eight accidents there and it is only opened a few months. This should not have happened. I call for it to be addressed.

Likewise, a junction was omitted for the people from Cill na Martra. This is not my county but I use the road a lot. No junction was put at the Mons Cross for a big part of west Cork to get onto the bypass. They must either go back to Balllyvourney or Ballymakeera or go over to Macroom on the old road and go through the town. I do not know what is going on.

We have Listry Bridge in Kerry. To say that Kerry County Council has not asked for work on it would be a desperate misrepresentation. The members in my time and the present members have raised it. Deputy Griffin and I have raised the issue here. He passes over that road. I asked for it to be made safe for him to go home. If he leaves Killarney his way home is over Listry Bridge. There are accidents there regularly. Over the summer there was a big hold-up that was mentioned on the radio.