John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

In October 2022 I received, as a member of Galway City Council, a presentation from the NTA Galway park and ride office. Even though it is called the Galway park and ride office, it is based in Dublin. As a general point, there was limited comment in last week's sectoral transport plan regarding park and ride. On that occasion the office advised us it was pursuing three sites for the development of park and ride facilities in Galway. It told us it was in discussions with landowners on agreements and that submissions for planning applications would be targeted for mid-2023. Very disappointingly, none of this has happened. There is some land in the ownership of Galway City Council that will be pursued for a park and ride facility but there is no update on the ownership of the sites on the N6 and the N83. Earlier this year I received an email from the NTA advising me that discussions were ongoing. This was three years later. I am very doubtful about the NTA's seriousness about addressing Galway's transport issues. The bodies operate in silos. Public transport and transport bodies seem to act differently and I am concerned.

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