Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to discuss the judicial reviews taken against the Galway city outer ring road. This road has been promised to Galway for decades. In that time, every other major Irish city and even smaller cities have developed their road network, while Galway has not. These judicial reviews will now further delay what has already been a ridiculously long process to get to this stage. It is essential that these reviews are carried out with urgency. It is extremely disappointing to see Green Party representatives support these reviews and advocate against the ring road.

The ring road, as we all know, is part of the programme for Government. The document was negotiated by three parties, none of which got everything it wanted. It is not appropriate for members of a party in government to advocate against projects which form part of the programme for Government. If such projects were a deal breaker, the time to raise them was two years ago.

As everybody knows, traffic is now so bad in Galway that I am aware of companies, when deciding where to set up, choose other cities largely based on traffic congestion. The lack of a bypass has damaged the local economy to a significant degree, already. I fully support public transport and cycling and agree there is room for improvement in infrastructure in those areas, but the simple fact is that Galway city's population will increase considerably over the coming years and is estimated to be in excess of 120,000 in ten years' time.

Our road network is incapable of handling the current level of traffic and with the population growth of 50% or more, it will be completely inadequate. Galway's current poor road infrastructure is a disservice to the people of the region, a major threat to the regional economy and considerable risk to the future and development of the region, especially as a lead region in the west.

Given the importance of the project, not just to Galway city, but to the entire region, including the 40,000 people living in Connemara and the tens of thousands of tourists who visit our region every year, I hope these judicial reviews will be carried out quickly to allow this project to move on, as quickly as possible.

I ask the Leader to request the Minister for Transport to come before this House immediately to indicate his full support for the Galway city outer ring road, as was given two years ago in the programme for Government.