Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Canney for raising a number of matters. First, I agree with him on the need to continue to invest and deliver more projects around Galway city and county and to address the huge congestion issues. I would point, and my colleagues have reminded me, to some of the progress that has been made in recent times. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, has made the point to me that the cross-city bus link has just gotten planning permission from An Bord Pleanála. When the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, was working in that Department, we saw significant investment in Oranmore and Ceannt train stations. These were significant measures that I know have made a difference.

We have invested heavily in our national road network with an extensive motorway system now in place. The motorway network has seen an almost tenfold expansion since 2000. The Galway city ring road is something I support. It was approved by An Bord Pleanála with conditions in December 2021, as Deputy Canney's constituents are all too aware of, but subsequently three applications for judicial reviews were submitted to the High Court, which imposed a stay on progressing the scheme. An Bord Pleanála subsequently decided not to oppose the judicial review taken by Friends of the Irish Environment against the decision to grant planning permission. On 30 January 2023, the High Court quashed the An Bord Pleanála decision to approve the scheme and remitted the application back to the board. An Bord Pleanála is to reconsider the application and make a new decision. It has requested further information from the county council, including an updated environmental impact assessment and a Natura impact statement. That project has now been remitted to An Bord Pleanála for consideration.

I want to see progress on this and the Galway city ring road is a really important part of that. It is a component of the Galway transport strategy and I hope this is something we can make progress on. As the Deputy rightly said, €3 million of taxpayers' money has been allocated by TII for this project this year. This is something I hope we can progress, subject to the planning issues. I assure the people of the Deputy's region that investing in both this road and in public transport remains an absolute priority.

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