Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

I welcome that the Government will prioritise transport in the revised plan. There is no sense of urgency when it comes to Galway city. Its growth has been hampered. It simply cannot develop. I do not have time to go into the lack of infrastructure when it comes to basic sewerage facilities. That is for another day and I have raised it before. I am sticking with just one issue today as one part of a sustainable solution. In 2018, 24,000 people signed a petition appealing to the Government to carry out a feasibility study. That took until last year. We cannot grow Galway. It is just a pretence and a mockery to say Galway can grow. It cannot. There is a lack of infrastructure. We then have obligations under our climate action plans. One of the easiest ways, the straightest way, to comply with those obligations is to roll out a public transport system with light rail and park-and-ride facilities. Park-and-ride was provided for in the city development plan in 2004, 21 years ago, and it still has not been rolled out. What we need from the Government is vision and boldness in the best sense of the word to give the thumbs up for light rail.

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