Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for allowing us raise this issue. I also thank the Minister for attending the House to deal with the debate.

I wish to acknowledge the work of my colleague, Deputy Michael Creed, on this over many years. I have been a public representative for the past four and a half years, but Deputy Creed has been highlighting and working on this issue for many years. I commend him on his continuous work. This is an important matter and we need to see progress. I commend the Minister on his work to date, but we want to see the project kept at the top of the agenda as vital regional infrastructure. From the Kerry perspective this project is hugely important, because the road linking Kerry and Cork is substandard. If we want to attract industry into the county, we have two main arteries connecting Kerry with other parts of the country. One is via Limerick and the other is via Cork. This project concerns the Cork artery. We need to see this road improved if we are to have any hope of attracting investment into the county of Kerry.

The road is also important in the tourism context. As everyone knows, Kerry is hugely important for tourism, but bringing people to Kerry from Cork via the road is currently difficult. Many people have to travel daily from Kerry to Cork to avail of vital health services, for example at the oncology unit in Cork University Hospital. Many cancer patients have to travel to Cork daily over a period of weeks for treatment.

It is a terrible road on which to travel. From a safety point of view, I knew people who lost their lives on it during the years and it needs to be improved. Will the Minister try to ensure its prioritisation through a public private partnership? That would be a way to get the work done as soon as possible. Being realistic, it would one way of prioritising the project. Is this something the Minister will pursue? I ask him to outline what he sees as being the future timeframe for the road project.

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