John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht an fhreagra. I will focus on the last paragraph of the Minister of State's response. He is correct to say we need more than enhanced infrastructure. I am glad, though, that his response also recognises the enhanced infrastructure, which will predominantly be the ring road, will alleviate some congestion and the report notes that. The last paragraph is interesting because it makes the point we need greater public transport and we need people to use public transport more.

One of the reasons I said I think this document requires further debate is it highlights one startling statistic. That is that only 4% of the population in the regional cities use public transport as their preferred mode of transport, whereas in the greater Dublin area that is 20%. Proportionately, five times as many people in Dublin use public transport as in the regional cities. That is because of its availability. The options to use public transport in Dublin are much greater than in the regional cities. I would welcome any and all interventions that will enhance public transport provision in Galway, give us better public transport infrastructure and give commuters a greater option to use public transport.

There is one thing I fear and I asked the Minister for Transport about it recently. The report published last week says the data on public transport usage I have just quoted reflects the insufficient scale and coverage of the public transport network, as well as poor frequency and accessibility in regional cities. People cannot use what they do not have. We need the ring road in Galway; we also need to complement it with enhanced public transport. Unfortunately, the evidence I have seen suggests the NTA is focused on the greater Dublin area. We need the NTA to expand its focus more to the regional cities. I understand the Minister for Transport has some measures in that area and I hope he brings them forward soon.

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