Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom an spotsolas a dhíriú ar chathair agus contae na Gaillimhe inniu. Mar is eol don Taoiseach, is cathair álainn í. Go teoiriciúil, is cathair dhátheangach í agus geata chuig an Ghaeltacht is mó sa tír. Tá an t-ádh dearg orainn go bhfuil lánfhostaíocht sa chathair ach tá fadhbanna tromchúiseacha ó thaobh cúrsaí tithíochta agus go háirid ó thaobh infreastruchtúr de. Tá easpa infreastruchtúr bunúsach atá fite fuaite leis an bhfadhb ó thaobh tithíochta de.

I am putting the spotlight on Galway city and county today. While I could say many good things about it, I want to highlight the problem with housing, but from a different perspective - the absolute absence of basic infrastructure. The wastewater treatment plant on Mutton Island right beside where I live was upgraded a few years ago and is able to cope with a population equivalent of 170,000. However, the collection network is seriously deficient.

It encompasses Oranmore, Barna and the city. We have two syphons under the River Corrib, which are inadequate and have been identified for a very long time. We have an inadequate situation in Oranmore and Merlin Park. An application for a storage area in Merlin Park was submitted by Uisce Éireann and subsequently withdrawn. I have one minute and a half to make a pitch for Galway city and want I want to do here is to highlight the actions of Uisce Éireann. I do not wish to demonise Uisce Éireann but I believe it should have stayed with the local authorities. The local authorities submitted a comprehensive plan in 2012 and 2013, which was not approved by the Department because of the future birth of Uisce Éireann. What are we doing now in Galway city? We have no wastewater treatment plant on the east of the city, which is stymieing development. The Ardaun plan of 10,000 people cannot go ahead. Within the city, taking in Oranmore and Barna, we have a combined sewage and stormwater pipe which overflows all of the time. In one particular case, an Environmental Protection Agency site inspection to Oranmore found there had been 70 overflows of combined stormwater and sewage into Galway Bay, which has not been reported to the EPA. A compliance investigation has been open since 2008, although it could be since 2010, regarding the deficiencies in the system and constant overflows which should be confined to unusual weather conditions. In 2023 alone, 70 overflows were not reported to Uisce Éireann. What is my point? There cannot be development in Galway city in any sustainable way unless we face the infrastructure problems. There can be no balanced regional development if we do not have a sewage treatment plant in Carraroe. I will come back to the issue of transport in a minute.

See this speech in context