There are calls on the Minister for Transport to explain the delay in issuing appropriate funding to progress the N22 Killarney bypass.
Kerry Independent Alliance councillor John O’Donoghue has accused Minister Eamon Ryan of using his legal powers to intervene on the project’s funding.
Correspondence from Transport Infrastructure Ireland to the council relating to the bypass was presented to elected members at the meeting.
Four potential routes for the N22 Farranfore to Killarney bypass were announced over a year ago, but the final design hasn’t yet been agreed.
During the peer review of the draft option selection report, Transport Infrastructure Ireland raised issues around the active travel and public transport aspects of the project.
The TII told Kerry County Council that the council itself is responsible for identifying the preferred route corridor for the scheme.
It said it forwarded a funding request from Kerry County Council for the advance of the N22 Farranfore to Killarney scheme to the Department of Transport for their consideration.
The council says there are further funding requirements in order to complete the various reports and investigations required to progress the bypass, and it continues to engage with the TII to secure this funding.
Councillor John O’Donoghue says he believes the Minister is personally intervening, as he’s legally entitled to do, to delay the project’s funding.
He says the project is effectively at a stalemate as the preferred route cannot be chosen until more funding is provided, and Minister Ryan needs to explain why it hasn’t been provided yet.
