Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

The town of Killarney is choked with traffic almost daily. This is causing mass frustration for residents, local businesses and visitors alike. Members of the public are missing trains and buses, along with GP, dental and hospital appointments, and many others, because of the gridlock. Killarney in County Kerry is the capital of tourism in Ireland and is the main reason for visiting this country for many foreign travellers. Killarney has been catering for tourists since Victorian times and is renowned for its professionalism in the sector due to its long years of experience. This success that Killarney has at attracting visitors to the town has brought about a chronic traffic gridlock problem that must now be dealt with via a planned new road or bypass from Lissivigeen just outside Killarney and onwards to Farranfore. It is of the utmost importance that the Government continues to support the Killarney to Farranfore project financially, planning-wise, etc. A sum of €3 million has already been allocated this year by my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien.

Local residents in Killarney regularly miss trains and buses and doctor and dentist appointments. It could take six or seven minutes to walk from St. Mary's Cathedral in Killarney to the railway station, but 35 minutes or 40 minutes in traffic. Taxi drivers have told me that to get around the town is a nightmare daily. Delivering goods to retail outlets is also a nightmare. I have experience of spending well over an hour getting from Lissivigeen to Fossa, a distance of just a few miles. This is a priority for the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce and for all of us, including Kerry County Council. Killarney is a tourism flagship and attracts visitors in their hundreds of thousands, bringing much-needed foreign currency to these shores. The Government must support our tourism industry by forging ahead with the bypass from Killarney to Farranfore, or the Kerry-to-Cork economic corridor as the Taoiseach called it. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, must provide the funding at the earlier possible date. As Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on tourism, this is also a priority for me. I have raised this issue on several occasions in this House and I am pleading for this important infrastructure to be expedited.

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