Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Doyle is correct. That is what they tell us. I have a completely different point of view. It is based on 17 years of going down a cul de sac in regard to an outer bypass with millions of euro spent on it. Then we go forward with a road. It is not an outer bypass; it is a ring-road. The public transport elements are tagged on to it. There is no paradigm shift here on the part of the Department and certainly on the part of the officials in Galway, on the reality that we cannot go on building roads. In regard to the road, the evidence is that more than 90% of the cars want to go into the city because that is where the industry, the university, the GMIT, the hospitals, etc., are. We need public transport.

The Department needs to examine its policies in regard to reducing emissions in the context of climate change and to develop a policy around reducing the volume of traffic on our roads in that context also. The Department has a responsibility to do that. Even if the road was the solution it cannot be built in the near future. An increase in school transport provision for the pupils of the 30 to 35 schools in this 2 km zone would reduce the volume of traffic on this road. I am sure the response to that proposal will be that school transport is a matter for another Department. However, it is one solution.

We must insist on public mobility plans in every industry and institution. The bicycle scheme mentioned is very limited. I am a cyclist. The scheme is tourism rather than commuter based. While it is welcome, it is limited in terms of what it can achieve. The philosophy appears to be one of add on public transport but keep going the road.