Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I do not disagree with the Deputy, and never have, on the need for a variety of public transport services in the greater Galway area, in particular Galway city, whose acute problems are, as everyone knows, probably worse than any other city's. The specific locations of the park-and-ride sites, the details of which I presume have been shared with Galway City Council, are at the likes of the M6-N6 junction on the way into the city, the N83 north of Claregalway and Oranmore railway station. For them to work, bus services must be prioritised. If we are going to install park-and-ride facilities for public transport, which is the right approach, then that public transport also has to work. One of the reasons we have included the cross-city public transport link in our Galway pathfinder project is that those public transport services have to be delivered in the next two years. We have set that as a 2025 target in all of our pathfinder projects.

Integration of any park-and-ride service with a wider upgrade of public transport and active travel systems within the city is critical. This has been one of the main issues. I heard what the Deputy said about Galway councillors being supportive, but we must also make difficult decisions on the likes of the N83 and the other approach roads to ensure that the bus priority that we would be depending on worked. That is probably one of the most critical issues alongside the question of how we deliver park-and-ride sites.

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