Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 July 2016
285. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding Killarney National Park; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23016/16]
View answerBetween 2011 and 2015, my Department invested almost €400,000 on works on roads within Killarney National Park. This represented almost 6% of all capital expenditure on Ireland’s National Parks and Nature Reserves between 2011 and 2015. These works included:
- €26,666 on repairs to a roadway in the Killarney Demesne area, from the Deenagh Lodge to the White Bridge; and
- €175,000 on repairs to roadways in Muckross and in the Reen area of the Demesne.
To date in 2016, a further €174,500 has been expended on works to the internal roadway opposite the Muckross House entrance to the National Park. This roadway is now complete and the project was co-funded by the Department and the Trustees of Muckross House. In recent weeks, Departmental staff at Killarney National Park have also carried out emergency repairs on the most damaged stretches of roadway in the Park. This work involved the use of tar and chips to fill in the worst of the potholes.
My Department has recently engaged an engineering consultant to oversee a programme of road works in Killarney National Park going forward. This work will include the filling of potholes, the repair of road centres, and more comprehensive resurfacing work, with priority given to those roadways which require the greatest repairs.
The national road running through the National Park is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, in conjunction with Kerry County Council, as provided for by the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015.
