Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

Tá an deis á tapú agam anois córas iarnróid éadroma do chathair na Gaillimhe a ardú. Tá an cheist seo thar a bheith tábhachtach. Is í an cheist i ndáiríre ná an bhfuil an dánacht agus an chrógacht san Aire ceannaireacht a thaispeáint agus glacadh leis an gcoincheap seo chun córas iarnróid éadroma a sholáthar do chathair na Gaillimhe. I am seizing the opportunity today to raise this matter with the Minister as Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, although I would have dearly loved to have raised the issue of Gaza as well.

The decision to roll out a light rail system in Galway requires courage, vision and leadership. Does the Minister have the courage to embrace this project and roll out a light rail system for Galway as part of the solution to the chronic traffic congestion in the city? The provision of a light rail system perfectly aligns with the national policy objectives in the revised national planning framework. I refer to objectives 10 and 97 on the requirement for a transport-orientated development approach served by high-capacity public transport in the metropolitan areas of the five cities destined to grow, with Galway being one of them. Moreover, section 2.1 of the revised national planning framework clearly sets out that the four cities, including Galway, will require the potential of all four cities to be realised at an unprecedented rate to create viable alternatives to Dublin. We have any number of policies with which the provision of light rail complies but I will look at climate action and climate change where light rail will actively help to reduce our emissions.

Regarding the cost of not doing something, the Department of Transport very helpfully published a report titled "The Economic Cost of Congestion in the Regional Cities 2022-2040". It states that, at a minimum, on an annual basis, traffic congestion in Galway is costing €35 million. This figure will rise to an estimated €107 million and more in 2040. We are not talking about the cost of fines, lack of productivity, travelling and so on. That report clearly stated that we need a proactive deployment of sustainable transport for the growing traffic congestion in Galway. I am saying clearly on the record that a significant amount of work has been done on this project. A feasibility study has been published stating that it is eminently doable. Regarding light rail on the ground, I collected 24,000 signatures in 2018 begging the Government to do this.

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