Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom cúrsaí brú tráchta ar fud na tíre, go háirithe inár bpríomhchathracha, a thabhairt chun solais.

I call on the Leader to invite the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to the House to participate in a debate on traffic management in our major cities. The National Roads Authority, NRA, has delivered on major projects of connectivity between our major cities, although a significant piece of the jigsaw remains to be completed, namely, the Atlantic corridor. As a country, we are faced with the major challenge of counteracting congestion in our city centres and making them more viable and sustainable. In terms of our capital city, an article in yesterday's The Irish Times is further example of empire building and in-fighting between the archaic structures of local government and the needs of citizens and business people. This incident is not isolated. I have first-hand experience of similar challenges in Galway city with regard to traffic management.

If we are to progress with the same vision as in respect of our motorways we must tackle city centre congestion over the next ten years. As Mayor of Galway, I initiated and facilitated a traffic report with an advisory group consisting of people from Engineers Ireland, NUI Galway and the Galway Chamber of Commerce. Their role was to engage with the citizens of Galway, the local authorities and relevant agencies to elicit cost-effective measures that would alleviate traffic flow in the city. The response from the citizens was very positive and more than 30 recommendations were published and presented to the city council. A number of these measures have been implemented. However, a lot more needs to be done to tackle this serious issue.

I recently facilitated a second report, due to be published in the coming weeks, calling on the citizens of Galway to describe how their journeys have changed over the past 12 months following a number of significant infrastructural changes. I note my Galway colleague, Deputy Noel Grealish, in an article in the Galway Sentinel has called on Galway city and county councils to use joined up thinking in addressing the ongoing traffic congestion in the city. This is not an isolated issue for Galway but one which has major national implications for business, tourism and investment in our main cities throughout the country. We need a multi-agency approach. I would welcome the Minister's participation in this debate.