Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The last point is exactly the reason I asked Galway City Council, the steering group and the Office of Public Works to engage in the first instance with Deputies and public representatives to dispel misinformation, of which we heard a lot in this House earlier in a different arena. The Deputy is right about bringing the public with us. Other public infrastructure from Galway city towards Salthill will be built in the not-too-distant future. It may have to be incorporated into this. I was on my holidays before I got sick during the summer. A woman running a shop in Salthill selling bric-a-brac for children recognised me and said "You are the flood man, are you not?" I was kind of off duty and I asked why. She said, "Whatever you are doing here, whether it is the greenway, cycleway or flood relief scheme, will you do it once and do it right and keep the water out of my shop?" I agree with the Deputy about the level of frustration. I would love to see the works commence but I cannot commence the works until I get planning permissions and have the proper hydraulic modelling done. There is frustration around the delays. It is not a shortage of money. I have no shortage of money. The biggest shortage I have is the ability to spend it. I must say that uniquely as a Minister of State.

On skill sets, the chairman of the OPW and I met the Minister for higher and further education about this matter. We raised the issue, whether through Engineers Ireland or directly through higher education organisations like ATU and the University of Galway, to encourage young men and women into civil engineering disciplines. This will not just affect our ability to deliver these schemes in Galway, the Gort lowlands or Clarinbridge. By the way, the chances of winning the lotto once is one in however many million. To win it twice in three or four years, which happened in Clarinbridge, is off the scale. We want to encourage people into the discipline of civil engineering because it is a great career. As well as that, we need that expertise. The Deputy knows as well as I do how long it takes to train a civil engineer. It takes a minimum of four years in university and then they have to serve their time after that. These are not skill sets we will magic up. However, that will not deter us.

There is a revised schedule for mid-December 2023, which is effectively now. Once Galway City Council has scheduled a meeting with Deputies, I have no problem attending a meeting with Galway City Council and Oireachtas Members because I am acutely aware of the issues, which are similar to those in Cork city. We have finally made progress in Cork city. It is a different part of the country. We are making progress and will finally, years later, be able to go out to tender, for instance, on Morrison's Island, the core of the city centre in Cork, not too dissimilar to the situation in Galway. These are concerning issues for me. If it helps, I will gladly meet public representatives with Galway City Council, the OPW and the steering committee to see what can tangibly be done around the timeframes for these plans.

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