Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I take this opportunity to thank the people of Kerry for electing me to the Thirty-fourth Dáil. I will endeavour to repay their trust in me by working hard and doing my best to deliver in the coming years.

There is sheer chaos in the accident and emergency department in University Hospital Kerry. Staff there are run off their feet. Our senior citizens are left waiting on chairs for 24, 36, 48 hours and longer. I am aware of cases where senior citizens have actually fallen off chairs while waiting. We should all be proud of our hospitals, in our case our county hospital, UHK. Honestly, we cannot say that at present. I wish the new Minister of Health the very best and every success, and I know she will do everything possible to change everything in our health service. It will not be easy. I would like to invite her to come to UHK and meet with senior management there.

With regard to resolving the issues in the accident and emergency department, it is my understanding that a 96-bed block is required on top of the current 39 that are in train. There is also a need for a new maternity unit in UHK due to clinical risks to both mother and baby. That is in regard to the current location of the existing unit there. It is just too far from the theatre.

I want to mention home care. It is hugely important. There are issues in places like Dingle, west Kerry, Castleisland, east Kerry, Cahersiveen, Kenmare, Ardfert, Ballybunion and throughout the Iveragh Peninsula. There is a need for more public health nurses. In our case in Kerry, we are down from 50 in 2023 to 41 in 2024. There is also an additional need for carers and home helps, and we need additional respite for our people. All these brought together will take pressure off the accident and emergency unit in UHK and will free up beds. Ultimately, the idea of keeping our elderly people at home longer is what they wish for and we should do everything possible to do that and achieve our goal.

With regard to other health-related issues in Kerry, I call for the minor injuries unit and primary care centre for Killarney. There is an urgent need for a primary care centre in Cahersiveen to serve the Iveragh Peninsula. It is a long journey for locals and visitors alike to University Hospital Kerry, and that should be taken into consideration.

I want to mention the Ring of Kerry road, which is close to my heart. It is a national secondary road and it is supposed to be Ireland's premier tourist route but 70% of it is substandard. I ask officials from Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Department of Transport, the Road Safety Authority and the Minister to travel the Ring of Kerry by coach, and they will see what kind of a rollercoaster it is for themselves, with the humps, hollows, lags and the dangers it brings to all road users. I have said on many occasions in the past that the Ring is as important to Kerry as the M50 is to Dublin.

Killarney town is choked with traffic, and in that context I am calling for the Killarney to Farranfore bypass to be expedited and for a feasibility study to be carried out to see if we can alleviate the traffic jams there in the short term. The N86 road from Tralee to Camp to Dingle also needs urgent attention.

The south Kerry greenway is something for which I have campaigned for 14 or 15 years. It starts in my own parish and goes on to Cahersiveen down to Reenard Point. It is going to be a game changer and a lifeline for the entire region. I would like to see it expedited and extended to Killorglin and onwards on this side, and to connect up with the Skellig Ring on the far side.

I wish to see the redevelopment of the Pretty Polly site as a training college for the hospitality sector in Killarney and Kerry progressed ASAP. I call on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to expedite plans for the return of the town councils as well. We had three in our case: Killarney, Tralee and Listowel, and they did very good work and served their communities well.

The multipurpose redevelopment of Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney needs to be supported, and it would be great to see big concerts by artists such as U2 and big international games, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and so on playing there. It would be great for the local economy and the county as a whole.

Coastal erosion is something that is close to my heart, and flooding. I have witnessed it over the decades in my home parish and townland of Rossbeigh. There are huge issues in Cromane. There are families there who are living in fear at night when high tides are hit with storms. I have witnessed 3 ft of saltwater inside homes. There are also coastal erosion issues in Waterville. In Glosha, Cromane and Douglas, there is tidal flooding, and Listowel needs to be mentioned.

The LNG project is vital for north Kerry and Ireland and deserves all our support. I want to mention pair trawling. We need to tackle that and ban it ASAP. It is destroying our fishing industry and is having a huge impact on the rod fishermen. They are gathering up all the sprat, and it just has to be addressed.

With regard to local improvement schemes for private roads, I would like to see additional funding. We are only doing 23 or 24 of these schemes per annum, based on the current level of funding. It needs to be multiplied at least tenfold. Planning for our local people on their own lands is very important to me and our people in Kerry, and with that, I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me time.

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