It would take €50 million to fix all of the Kerry roads due to be completed under the Local Improvement Scheme.
That’s according to Kerry County Council’s Director of Services for Roads, Transportation and the Marine, Charlie O’Sullivan, who was speaking at the recent monthly council meeting.
Earlier this month, over €700,000 was allocated to Kerry for the Local Improvement Scheme, which will be used for works on rural roads and laneways that are not normally maintained by local authorities.
There are currently 710 roads in Kerry waiting to be completed under the scheme.
In a report presented to councillors at the meeting, the council’s Chief Executive Moira Murrell said the allocation of funding would allow 12 roads to be completed this year, including two community schemes.
Independent councillor Jackie Healy-Rae said it would take about 60 years to clear the list going at 12 per year, and people would unfortunately be dead before their road is done.
Fellow Independent councillor Charlie Farrelly claimed the level of funding granted to Kerry County Council was all that the council requested.
Several councillors then asked if the council had the capacity to complete more roads if allocated more funding, and others expressed frustration at the low level of funding compared to other counties with fewer roads on the list.
Councillors also enquired about a Hardship and Emergency Scheme to complete roads in special circumstances.
In response, Charlie O’Sullivan said the issue was the allocation of funding rather than the council’s ability to deliver the scheme.
He said the Emergency and Hardship Scheme came from councillors’ allocations, and it was also very difficult to define an emergency case.
Mr O’Sullivan said the council tells the Department how many roads are on its list, and is not sure how Kerry was allocated just €700,000.
He added the council would need about €50 million to fix all 710 roads, and national funding for the scheme this year was around one fifth of that.
