Dear Santa, I'd like a bypass, a hospital, a selection box..

With the government increasingly reliant on his support to get the Budget through, Jackie Healy-Rae makes an early start on his Christmas wish list.

INDEPENDENT TD JACKIE Healy Rae has left the government in no doubt about what it needs to do to ensure his support for the Budget.

Amongst his Christmas wishlist is a commitment to the Tralee bypass – estimated at €100 million – and funding a hospital in Kenmare.

Speaking on Radio Kerry yesterday, he said:

We want to try to keep the Government going as long as we can and to get them to try to get the country back on track . . . Well, there’s several things that I expect them to do for me. I will be looking for a commitment for the Tralee bypass . . . I believe that the Tralee bypass is vital to be done, and we’ll have to get it done.

He added that the hospital was “a top priority”.

Asked if he would withdraw his support for the Budget if he was refused the bypass, Healy-Rae indicated that he didn’t think that was a very likely prospect. He said Lenihan had never refused him yet. There is “no indication we are going to be refused”, he predicted.

Last month, he claimed credit for the €35 million Casteisland bypass.