I thank the Deputy for raising this very important and pertinent issue, especially for the people of Galway. I, along with many people, see the N6 Galway city ring road project as essential in terms of the growth and development of Galway city and also for the relief of unacceptable congestion there. The current congestion is contributing negatively to climate change targets. With the current volume of vehicles on the existing network, we all know and we can all see that Galway city is suffering from extreme congestion in its centre and increased journey times.

I was recently at the opening of the Macroom bypass. In jest afterwards, I said that we had liberated Macroom. The point being that the quality of life in Macroom now is vastly improved because of the Ballyvourney bypass in terms of congestion, air pollution, climate change targets etc. in the sense that traffic and gridlock cause vehicles to emit fossil fuels for a longer period than they perhaps should be. In any event, the relief to people there is palpable.

Galway city has suffered for decades now because of the failure to progress this project. It has been held up in the planning arena. The clear Government position is as per the programme for Government and the national development plan agreed for 2021 to 2030, which is that this proposed project is to go ahead. This proposed project is included in the national development plan and this remains the Government's position. Obviously, people have different perspectives and the Minister made remarks yesterday in respect of the broader issue. I think he said he wanted to see changes in terms of that particular project, but the specifics of that were not outlined nor I think did he suggest that he had specific elements in mind. I must be clear that, as per the programme for Government and the national development plan, this project is to go ahead.

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