Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Ó Céidigh agus leis an gcoiste as ucht an seisiún seo a eagrú. Tá sé tuillte. Rugadh agus tógadh i nGaillimh mé. Tá an-suim agam i gcúrsaí tráchta agus i réitigh inmharthana.

I have spent 17 years working at local authority level and know the ins and outs of the work. I will make a few observations and then I will ask a few questions. During my 17 years an outer bypass was built on a cul-de-sac. Whatever about one's view of an outer bypass or a ring road, my difficulty was that no solutions were put forward because all of the eggs went into one basket and therein built up a problem. Another problem was the management structure but that is not a reflection on management. During my first 13 years working on a local authority we had seven city managers, either acting or permanent. Such a structure does not lead to long-term solutions. When the outer bypass was put down a cul-de-sac the next effort was to get another road. The Arrow Road Construction Company was brought in to look at that road. Public transport was put on the road and not the other way around. In an ideal world I would have loved the company to have declared it had a major problem due to Galway being a fantastic medieval city, that it also had serious climate change responsibilities and seek to come up with solutions in the next few years.

I shall make a final observation. I spent almost two days attending an oral hearing on the Seamus Quirke Road in Galway and, subsequently, I was accused by a certain person of delaying the road. My efforts, and that of Councillor Colette Connolly, were to ensure that four roundabouts were not located on a road that spanned over 1 km. The exact distance has been mentioned.