Pádraig Ó Céidigh (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Seo díreach cúpla focal mar gheall ar chúrsaí taistil sa tír seo. On a couple of occasions, I asked that the Leader ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to come before us to speak about various aspects of transport - Brexit being one. Now I am making a point about traffic congestion. It is a huge problem, particularly in my own city, Galway, but it is much wider than that. It is in Cork, Dublin and practically all over the country. Ask those in the Public Gallery, any of us, or anyone and they will say they could be travelling at least an hour to work and an hour home every day. That is a full day's work a week in which they are caught up in traffic. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport which invited in the managers of both Galway County Council and Galway City Council to speak and deliberate on the traffic problem, especially in Galway but which is a nationwide issue.

We have a fairly simple straightforward suggestion. The World Economic Forum recommended this a week ago but our committee recommended it two months ago. We should engage with a professional organisation, such as Waze, which has partnerships with approximately 60 cities throughout the world but is not in Ireland.It will help with the technology and create feedback from the public on where traffic jams are and what is causing them. It is a simple solution with no cost to the Exchequer or taxpayer. Something that happens in some Departments or, for example, the Revenue Commissioners is that when they want to focus on an area, they get an expert team to focus on it. I ask, through our Leader, that the Minister would consider setting up an expert team to look at traffic issues in Ireland that can move from one traffic congestion problem area to another. When one has an expert team of probably six or seven people, one can create a model or strategy for continuous improvement. Right now, it is somewhat comme ci, comme ça. If one is lucky, one can get into work in half an hour or three quarters of an hour and if one is unlucky, like the vast majority of people, it takes an hour or more every day to come to work and go home again afterwards. This is a huge economic problem. It costs a fortune. It is a huge issue for employers and employees, many of whom have people looking after their children when they go to work. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to explain what his Department's strategy is for transport and travel congestion in Ireland.