Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)

I understand the Senator's frustration. This is unacceptable. He is representing people who are deprived of connectivity, and he not wrong to be here today advocating for them. I accept totally his bona fides and his position. There is a need for facilitation between all the different stakeholders to ensure that we avoid where we have been and where we cannot be in the future. The Government is committed to protection and renewal of our road network.As we know, we must connect people, businesses and communities. We must also connect and protect people from what the Senator referenced in his contribution.

Kerry County Council has a role to play here, and it should not be let off the hook on this. It is responsible for maintaining and improving its regional and local roads. It is its responsibility to determine its priorities. I hope that the Senator and I, with the different stakeholders, can determine the priorities here in getting funding provided from the grant allocations and from the council's own resources. As the Senator knows, the Minister for Transport recognises the importance of funding provided to local authorities for the protection and renewal of the regional and local roads programme. This funding is an important one, with the Minister this year committing to €713 million to support regional and local roads. I will sit down with the Senator after today to ensure that we put in place a network of meetings to look at this issue of Foildarrig Bridge. The Senator has long been a champion of this project. He has met with me privately. I give him commitment that I will go down and visit the area with him and speak with officials in the Department to facilitate guiding the next principles. The Senator is right; it is unacceptable. I agree with him on that. I will work him on the matter.