Road Projects Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-19 ============================================================ Mike Kennelly (FG), Labour Panel I welcome the Minister of State. My Commencement matter calls on the Minister for Transport to make a statement on the provision of additional funding for proposed road improvement works on the national N69 route from Bolton's Cross to the Tim Kennelly roundabout in Listowel, County Kerry. I am demand again that urgent attention be given to the N69 into Listowel. This is not a minor issue. It is a key artery into Listowel and north Kerry. Thousands of people rely on this road every day for work, school, business, tourism and essential travel. Despite years of repeated calls, the road remains in an appalling and deteriorating state. It is an embarrassment to Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and Kerry County Council. We have called for funding for this road for over seven years. There have been seven years of letters, questions, representations and deputations to Kerry County Council, but nothing has been done. The people I represent are being let down by a system that continues to ignore a road that is critical to the safety, connectivity and economic life of the county. In the most recent TII funding round, Kerry County Council received no allocation for the N69 even though it had confirmed that the road was ranked third on its priority list. Let me make it very clear that the funding we are asking for, which we were told ten days ago is €300,000, is just 1% of the €33 million allocated to Kerry County Council for national routes. Despite the modesty of this request, the road was still overlooked. The people deserve a clear and honest answer to the following question: why has a critical road, which is near the top of the priority list, been ignored in the funding process? Last Thursday, TII and Kerry County Council had a meeting to discuss the matter. Perhaps they called it an emergency meeting. The communication barrier between the Department of Transport, TII and Kerry County Council is a total embarrassment to the people I represent. The condition of the N69 is deteriorating. If TII is not going to fund this road then should responsibility for it be removed from TII? I am unapologetically angry because I have raised this issue four times in this House yet the problem persists. The frustration felt in Listowel and across County Kerry is high. People await answers, actions and investment and they have waited far too long. When the national funding of €33 million was announced, the five Deputies who represent Kerry jumped up and down in celebration for what they had brought to the county. Not one of them came to north Kerry to say that no money had been allocated to the N69. They totally misrepresented the area. I have shouted for this allocation. I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister and his Department to make a full statement to explain why the N69 was not included in the funding round, to clarify the assessment process conducted by TII, and to outline the immediate action that will be taken to address this neglected and dangerous road. A request for €300,000 from a €33 million budget is not unreasonable. The current situation cannot continue. I call on the Minister for Transport to act decisively, to make a statement today and to ensure the N69 receives the immediate attention, investment and priority it needs for the benefit of the people of north Kerry and everyone who uses this route. The current situation is embarrassing. I want this to be the last day that I raise this matter in the Seanad. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-19