Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

An extra two roundabouts and a flyover were due to be placed on a 2 km stretch of road. That was the type of engineering solution put forward. I spent my time making sure the flyover and two extra roundabouts were not erected. Ironically, the management has adopted a policy of removing roundabouts over the past number of years.

My questions will be on the national planning framework, which will be published next Friday. It is unfortunate that the framework will not be discussed in the Dáil. I have read the framework and noted terms like "sustainability" and "place-making". The framework has identified Galway city is one of five cities that have been picked to grow more than 50% of its present population. In addition, 50% of development must take place on sites in the inner city.

Light rail was ruled out as an option without proper analysis, in my opinion. Light rail was ruled out on the basis that the city was not going to grow that big and, therefore, there would not be the same demand for development on 50% of the city which will now, if we comply with the framework, lead to further population. Also, our climate change obligations have increased utterly. Neither Mr. McGrath, Mr. Kelly nor Ms Graham have talked about our climate change obligations. They did not mention what has been done to future proof our roads and transport solutions in terms of climate change legislation.

In 2005, I had the privilege of being elected mayor of Galway. At that time all of the councillors unanimously voted to add park and ride facilities in the city's development plan and against the then management's advice who said it was unnecessary and premature. We included park and ride facilities in the development plan that covered east and west of the city. Time has elapsed and it is now 2018 yet the objectives were never complied with and people have allowed traffic congestion to build up. I appreciate that we all want more development in Galway but it must be sustainable. My specific questions have been asked already. Why was a park and ride scheme not rolled out? When will it be rolled out? What applications were made for funding to provide park and ride facilities on the east and west of the city since the initiative was first mooted in 2005?

I shall now discuss the master plan for the city in terms of sustainable development and transport. I am open to correction but I believe that Ceannt railway station is comprised of between 12 and 14 acres of prime land that is located in the middle of the city. I ask one of the witnesses to confirm how big the dock area is in acres. These are public lands and we also have private lands. Unfortunately, there is no master plan to develop that land in terms of transport.

Earlier the manager gave an example of a planning application that is pending. The private land was sold off by the docks and port company. The planning application is for office accommodation for 2,700 people and some accommodation for students who come from abroad. I mention this project not to criticise but to say that the plan that we will publish on Friday has sustainability written into it yet that is not happening on the ground.

What is happening with the park and ride option? The last time I checked there were 30 schools located in the city within a small radius. Just recently I have ceased having to drive my children to school and putting an idiotic car on the road in order to drive my children from the Claddagh area up to a scoil lán-Ghaeilge, a distance of less than a mile and a half. I had no choice but to undertake that drive as it was the only way to get my children to the school and similar situations are repeated all over Galway. We need a living and vibrant city and it is great that the city has 30 schools where students are taught in Irish and English. Is cathair dhátheangach í. We need to reduce school traffic. It has been repeatedly identified that peak traffic is a problem, which is substantially contributed to by schools. What is the solution?

I have had the privilege of travelling abroad and know that transport mobility plans for each big industry was a major factor. I ask Mr. Neary to comment.

I thank all of the witnesses for their contributions. I shall now refer to the contribution made by Mr. Coll. I was frightened by one of his comments when he said: "a recent initiative in Boston showed an 18% reduction in traffic congestion using these new techniques. Coincidentally, this is estimated to be the same approximate reduction in overall travel time for the Galway transport network following the completion of the N6 outer bypass." He went on to say that is the estimated change that will happen as a result of 16.5 km being built at a cost of over €30 million per kilometre. That solution will lead to huge trouble and will not reduce traffic congestion.

My colleague, Deputy Ó Cuív, has mentioned Oranmore, Athenry and a train service. Has the frequency of trains in the area increased? Can we use what already exists as a commuter service?