Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House. I express my best wishes to him in his new role. I look forward to working with him and to his statement in relation to my Commencement matter. I will discuss the complete deterioration and disrepair of the N69 national road from an area called Bolton's Cross, around Listowel, to the Tim Kennelly roundabout in Listowel. As a national road, the N69 into Listowel is a lifeline and the gateway into the town from Limerick and the west. To say this is a safety issue is an understatement. The road enters the town close to the Kingdom of Kerry greenways, which is also adjacent to the newly constructed Listowel bypass that has been a wonderful success. This issue impacts all road users, including drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. The state of disrepair of the road is causing damage to cars constantly and is negatively impacting businesses and residents located on the same stretch of road. It is not safe to travel the road because of the dangerous condition into which it has fallen over a long time.

As a county councillor in County Kerry, I raised this issue in July 2023 as a notice of motion at a Listowel municipal district meeting. I described the response I received as a copy-and-paste answer. The motion related to safety improvements and road resurfacing from the Bolton's Cross junction on the Tarbert road to the Tim Kennelly roundabout in Listowel. I told those at the meeting that the location was the scene of a fatal accident. Further accidents have taken place since. I asked if funding needed to carry out works at the location had been obtained from Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and Kerry County Council told me a payment assets repair and renewal, PARR, report was being carried out as part of an application to seek further surfacing improvements between Bolton's Cross and the Tim Kennelly roundabout.That report was to be ready by the end of 2023. Specific details regarding the status of these improvements, including the exact nature and extent of the works, have not been made available. To say that this has been an embarrassment for the people of Listowel when we welcome visitors into our town is a complete understatement. It is a national road and should look like a national road. We are discussing a road that is only 1.7 km in length. Will the Minister of State provide an update on when these road safety improvement works will commence? I look forward to his statement.