Imelda Goldsboro (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to the House.

Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)
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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.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Kennelly for raising the matter with me. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I know the road in question is of particular importance to the Senator. Road safety is a priority for us as a Government. The Minister for Transport is responsible for the overall policy and Exchequer funding for the national roads programme. TII delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the national development plan, NDP. The Senator mentioned copying and pasting. I will not insult Senator Kennelly with some of the remarks in the prepared script but I am conscious that this is an important road for him and the people of Listowel. The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP. As Members will be aware, this funding will do a number of things. It will enable improved regional accessibility as well as allowing for growth, which are key strategic outcomes. It will also provide for the development of numerous national road projects and include projects that are already at construction stage and those close to it, as well as the development of a number of others.

A major priority in the NDP, in line with the Department's investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road network. The NDP will have about €2.9 billion for the protection and renewal of existing national roads over the ten-year period to 2030, allocated evenly across the decade. This includes minor improvement projects, safety schemes such as junction upgrades and road realignment and pavement renewal. As Members will be aware, the greater portion of the funding in the NDP becomes available in the second half of this decade, which has meant that up until now, there has been a constraint on the spending of money. However, €411 million of Exchequer capital funding was provided for national roads through TIl to local authorities last year and the allocations for this year will be announced in the coming weeks.

l understand from TII that Kerry County Council has not been in a position, as the Senator said, to prioritise a scheme for the N69 from Bolton's Cross to the Tim Kennelly roundabout due to the many competing demands for these resources, which have been required to fund other high-priority schemes, such as the Listowel bypass, which, as the Senator said, has been a huge success. In 2024, approximately €4.7 million was allocated for the construction of new national roads in Kerry, with an additional €9.7 million being allocated for the improvement of the existing network. This was in addition to the allocation of €118 million in Exchequer capital funding that was allocated for the national road network in County Kerry between 2020 and 2023, which has resulted in many improvements to the network, as demonstrated, as we have said, by the Listowel bypass, which was completed last summer.

I am conscious of the necessary improvement to this lifeline and gateway to the west, as the Senator put it, and that it is just a 1.7 km stretch. This important project, aimed at enhancing regional accessibility and improving connectivity in the south west, will be of benefit to the region. It will improve journey time certainty and have quality-of-life impacts on road users. The project will enable safer journeys and the improved connectivity will strengthen tourism in the area while relieving congestion and delays within the heritage town of Listowel. In diverting traffic away from the town centre, the project will reduce noise and improve air quality. In addition, with traffic redirected to the Listowel bypass, the existing route will be developed to facilitate safer cycling and walking routes.

I will take back the Senator's concerns to the Department and work with him to champion this issue because it is important. The programme for Government commits to increasing funding for new roads as part of the NDP, the maintenance of existing roads and the protection and renewal of the road network to address maintenance backlogs. As the Senator said, it is about ensuring we deliver this project. I look forward to working with the Senator in the coming months to make sure we get this road prioritised for him and the people of Listowel.

Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. It is unfortunate to hear the statement on the works. My community, which I represent on a national front, has been enduring this road for a long time. It is disappointing to hear that TII and Kerry County Council have not been in a position to prioritise the scheme for the N69 from Bolton's Cross to Tim Kennelly roundabout. It is an embarrassment at this stage. I do not know how to take back the information that there is no start date or finish date for the works that I proposed for everyone's safety. Road safety, as illustrated in the Minister of State's response, is our priority and his concern.

I look forward to working with the Minister of State. This section of road has to commence and be prioritised by him and the Department for completion as soon as possible. I formally invite him as a Cork man down to the kingdom. He can come from the west or whatever side he comes from. I invite him when he returns with a start date for these works for everybody's safety. We have a wonderful bypass and a road in the worst condition entering the town. It does not add up.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. I know this road and roundabout is of particular importance to him. The name Tim Kennelly, for us in Cork, is a huge reason why we should be supporting this. I take the Senator's concerns and share his view on the lack of progress. I commit to working with the Senator, the Department and Kerry County Council in a manner that will achieve the key outcomes he desires. The Government is committed in the programme for Government to enhancing connectivity in both urban and rural areas through investing in diverse transport options, including roads and the national development plan. I will take the Senator's points to TII and Kerry County Council. I will not insult him by giving him a prepared script, because I know the importance of this road. Thankfully, it is not on the way to Killarney, not that I think we will be getting to Killarney too often in the coming months, but I hope that next Sunday we will have a better result. This is about better results for the Senator and the people of Listowel. We have seen the benefit of the bypass. It is critical that we continue with road improvement. The Government has committed to that. We have seen a variety of benefits but the Senator made the point about safety and connectivity. I will sit down with him and take up his offer to visit and work with him on behalf of the Department to make sure we get this project moving.