A member of the Fine Gael team, which negotiated the Programme for Government, says the party will prioritise Kerry despite not having a TD in the constituency.
Minister of State Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill says Fine Gael intends to win back a Dáil seat in the constituency.
The party failed to retain Deputy Brendan Griffin's seat in November's general election, after his retirement from politics.
It’s the first general election in which no Fine Gael TD was returned from Kerry since 1948.
Minister Carroll-MacNeill says Fine Gael councillor Mike Kennelly would be a strong voice for Kerry on the national stage if he were to win a Seanad seat in the upcoming upper house election.
She says having so many government TDs in the constituency gives Kerry a lot of influence in the development of government policy: