Mr. Tony Neary:

Good afternoon. I thank the Chairman and committee for their interest in our views on traffic and congestion. I will speak specifically about Parkmore in Galway. Before I speak about the challenges, I am keen to share the remarkable success story of the medtech sector here. Ireland is home to eight of the world's top ten medtech companies. Galway plays a vital role as a global hub for the industry. More than 29,000 people are employed in the medtech industry across 450 companies. The medtech industry has made, and continues to make, a critical contribution to making Ireland one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. The committee has heard many statistics from the speakers so far. Our most important statistic in Medtronic is simple. Every second, two patients' lives are saved or improved by a Medtronic device. It is crucial not one of these patients is a statistic. Each of these 70 million people has individual thoughts and dreams. That drives us as a company. Our mission is to alleviate pain, restore health and extend life.

I am unbelievably proud that, for over 35 years, and with more than 3,000 employees and 45 nationalities at the Parkmore site, we have helped to drive that mission forward with breakthrough advances in medical care in areas as diverse as drug-eluting stents, aortic aneurism repair, aortic valve repair and leadless pacemakers as examples. We experience a pace of change in medtech that has never been witnessed before. Technologies are diverging and converging very rapidly. I have been involved in the medtech industry for over 25 years and have seen significant change in this time. The truth is that when I talk to young engineers coming into the medtech industry, I tell them that I am jealous of them because the change that will happen in the next five to ten years will far outweigh what has happened in the past 25 years. It is our job to imagine that change and make it a reality.

Unfortunately, that leads me to talk about what has not changed. The infrastructure in Parkmore has not kept pace with the success delivered by the businesses there. This has not happened overnight. Last October, we celebrated our 35 year anniversary on the campus in Medtronic. When we had that celebration, we saw aerial footage of what the campus originally looked like. The only thing that has not changed in 35 years is the road network in and out of the campus. The road is exactly the same as it was 35 years ago. Every other speaker here today has much more detailed knowledge of the various aspects of the traffic challenge and solutions than I have, but I am here to share the business perspective and to emphasise the nature of the deterioration in recent years.

The Parkmore campus employs 6,000 people, 3,000 of whom work for Medtronic. I do not need to point out the contribution of these businesses to local commerce, providing vital jobs to the community and supporting national economic growth. Mr. Coll mentioned that INRIX transport analytics show that Galway city is the worst in Ireland. Parkmore is the epicentre of this and needs its own immediate solutions. Employees are faced with long delays coming to and from work every day, which is increasingly affecting businesses and their ability to keep and attract talent. Parkmore staff have grown extremely frustrated by the daily challenge they face to merely get to and from their place of work. Employees regularly encounter two-hour traffic delays on a daily basis when driving in and out of the estate. That is not their commute. That is time taken to get in and out of the estate, which hopefully gives a sense of the gravity of the situation.

This impacts productivity, engagement and ultimately employees' capacity in their work. As a company, our only secret to success is our employees. That is what delivers results for us and it is vital that we have an engaged workforce to deliver results.

More importantly than that, this affects people's quality of life on a daily basis. In order to find a solution, Medtronic has worked hard to help tackle the traffic problem. We have an active traffic group within the company, which has spawned initiatives like car-pooling. We have a very active cycling group and an active commuter village, in which we have invested heavily to make sure we have state-of-the art cycling facilities. We have appointed independent traffic consultants. We have teamed up with other industries and the State and worked with various Government bodies in the Parkmore Traffic Action Group, PTAG, which is focused on providing a collective voice to drive change. Within the campus, across all businesses, there is an active HR sub-team that collaborates to organise shift patterns etc. to do what can be done to manage traffic.

The Galway transport strategy is a crucial part of a long-term solution to alleviating traffic congestion in Parkmore and in Galway city. We acknowledge that a Galway city ring-road is a vital component to this and we fully support one. The reality is that extended timelines around the delivery of this piece of infrastructure means that our options must be explored in the immediate term.

Anybody who works in Parkmore will attest that one of the most frustrating aspects of this is that every year a huge traffic management plan is put in place for the Galway Races, which are held right beside Parkmore. Anybody working in Parkmore will agree that the only time traffic works well there is during the Galway Races when 20,000 extra people come there. Results can be driven. We need to stop talking and deliver them.

In regard to progress, while the traffic situation remains acute, I acknowledge that there have been some positive developments in the recent past which are worth highlighting. An adjustment to signalling and new road markings have helped the situation somewhat in the evenings. It is also welcome that, in the week that we are here to discuss traffic, work has started on a new exit lane from Parkmore west. Unfortunately this work has been significantly later than anticipated, but I acknowledge the work and the fact that this will help alleviate the situation.

I come from an industry where I am judged solely on delivering results. I would like this committee to ensure it sees results in Parkmore and across Galway. I am appealing to those in power to implement and promote change to deliver results, and present a vision that reflects the success of Galway industry and embraces future opportunities. We should not be afraid of being successful. We should plan for it and make sure we set ourselves up for it.

I acknowledge that no immediate silver bullet is available. However, the need for urgent, focused and collaborative action to tackle congestion is indisputable. I would very much welcome the opportunity to come back to this committee to report that results have been delivered. Businesses right across Galway and right across Parkmore, including Medtronic, have a responsibility and a role to play in working with all other stakeholders to alleviate this problem. We are fully committed to doing that. I welcome any questions on these topics.