Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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13. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 50 of 17 June 2021, 112 of 16 September 2021, 162 of 4 November 2021 and 82 of 16 December 2021, the progress made to date on the roll-out of park and ride facilities in Galway; the status of the ongoing detailed site options analysis and feasibility studies in Galway by the Park and Ride Development Office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11942/22]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I am following up on some previous questions on park-and-ride facilities. I am asking a very straight question on the progress to date in rolling out park-and-ride facilities in Galway. What is the status of the ongoing detailed site options analysis and feasibility studies? Are they done? I know I am preaching to the converted but there has been no progress on rolling out park-and-ride facilities, an objective included in the city development plan in 2005.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As outlined to the Deputy in previous replies on this matter, the National Transport Authority has established a park-and-ride design office, PRDO, which works with Galway city and county councils and Irish Rail. The focus of the current work of the PRDO is looking at options and the feasibility of zones along corridors for the east and north east serving the city centre and Parkmore.

The areas currently being considered include zones adjacent to the Coolagh roundabout and junction 19 on the M6, locations on the N83, the old Dublin Road and the R339. Consideration is also being given to supporting additional park-and-ride facilities at Oranmore rail station. Detailed site options analysis and feasibility studies are ongoing for each of the areas identified.

The PRDO has undertaken site visits to the area and topographical drone surveys of lands in the zones identified have been carried out. These surveys give detailed information on the physical characteristics of the area, which help identify any potential constraints and inform the preliminary design and layouts of the proposed park-and-ride developments. Other information such as information on ecology, archaeology, flooding and public transport capacity, in addition to land title searches and traffic data analysis, is being utilised in a multi-criteria analysis to determine the preferred sites to bring forward to planning.

The development of the particular sites will be aligned with the delivery of other supporting infrastructure, in particular bus corridor infrastructure with a view to bringing sites forward for planning in the latter half of 2022. The appropriate planning consent process will be determined on a site-by-site basis.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I have read the response which, as I say, is one of the advantages of being in the Chair. These objectives were included in the city development plan in 2005 by the councillors. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, was there at the time. It was positive and proactive. We recognised that it was important. Yesterday or the day before, we saw the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which spelled out the terrible consequences there will be if we do not take action. The National Transport Authority was involved in developing the transport plan in 2016. At that point, it was fully aware that no action had been taken since 2005. The Minister's response today shows me that some progress has been made with regard to the east side of the city. The west has been completely forgotten. In previous answers, which I have to hand, I was told that sites on both the east and west sides were being looked at. They are the objectives in the plan. Here we are in 2022 dealing with an objective from 2005 and not one single site has been identified for park-and-ride facilities as traffic congestion in Galway worsens.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I share the Deputy's concern about the speed of development of a whole range of different transport solutions and sustainable transport solutions in particular. I hope I am not being controversial and I mean no disrespect to anyone in Galway but Galway is probably where we have our biggest and worst problem with regard to sustainable transport. The city has been very successful in developing but it has an unsustainable transport model that prioritises and promotes transport based on individual cars. I do not blame or fault people who have to use their own cars but it becomes completely unsustainable when a certain level of traffic is reached. That is where we are at in Galway. We need to accelerate some of the sustainable transport solutions in Galway, particularly some of the active travel and BusConnects infrastructure, which would help people use the infrastructure we are discussing, and the development of the railway station at Oranmore, which we mentioned earlier. That integrated approach is required. Park-and-ride facilities have to be part of wider sustainable transport solutions. We should also have bike-and-ride facilities. There is significant potential in providing bike parking, particularly at rail and bus stations. Particularly in light of new electric bikes, there is capacity to rethink how our cities and rural communities work. We need to accelerate development not only of the park-and-ride facilities, but of the active travel and bus travel infrastructure that needs to go with those facilities as part of an overall solution.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I honestly fully agree with the Minister but we are beyond all of that. We did this in our time as councillors. We asked for an integrated traffic solution. All of the eggs were put in the basket of the outer bypass and nothing was done. Reading the response, I see that we are still talking about some distant time in the future while the west of the city has gone off the record altogether. Of course, park-and-ride facilities are only one feature. Cycling, light rail, using Oranmore and Athenry and increasing the frequency of trains are all also features. The most frustrating thing is that Galway is a city destined to grow. We cannot destroy its natural beauty. Thanks be to God, we have a beautiful city. However, we have certainly messed up the planning and we continue to do so. We do not have a city architect or an overall master plan for the city that is a plan for the common good. We have no recognition of the urgency of lifting traffic off the road and providing sustainable alternatives. You cannot complain about motorists without providing sustainable alternatives. There is no recognition of how urgent this is in view of the climate change emergency.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response. I am particularly pleased that he makes specific reference to the double-tracking of the line from Athenry to Oranmore and to the enhancement of those stations. I thank him and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for making this a priority. I ask that this be developed with the greatest expediency possible. Athenry is a town of just over 5,000 people. The population has doubled over the last 20 years. Oranmore is also a town of 5,000 people whose population has doubled over the last 20 years. In its most recent analysis, the Central Statistics Office tells us that there are 1,850 people commuting to and from Athenry and Oranmore to Galway city every day, almost twice the number of people commuting from the whole of County Mayo. This is the investment and this is the urgency. This double-tracking and increasing the frequency of the trains is exactly what we need to see happening, as Deputy Connolly has already said. Finally, there is a serious inequity between the fares paid by people from the commuter belt of Galway city, and those of Limerick, Waterford and other cities, in comparison to the fares paid by people living in the greater Dublin region. Irish Rail needs to look at that urgently.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We face a very great issue in meeting our climate change targets. Transport is a particular issue. In addition to the planning review to be carried out with the Attorney General's office, which I mentioned earlier, the Government has agreed to establish fast-track teams in a number of key areas. We need to set targets and work programmes for the remaining three years of this Government. One of the key project teams will be working on the area of sustainable mobility. These teams are only starting. The key project for that sustainable mobility team is to look at cities like Galway to see what transport-related emissions are projected for 2030 and what we could do in the next three years to move away from the current completely unsustainable high-carbon model, which will not be tolerable for any modern city seeking to place itself at the forefront of civilisation and where we are going. That sustainable mobility project team will look at the likes of the delivery of the BusConnects projects, the active travel projects and the park-and-ride projects that must integrate together and start to be delivered in that three-year period, although not every element will be completed within that time. We need to make progress. We are not moving fast enough.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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With the approval of the House, we will step back to Questions Nos. 11 and 12. This means that, if other Deputies do not turn up, the last question we take will probably be No. 17 in the name of Deputy O'Rourke. I do not think we will get to any more.