Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I too would like to raise the issue of the Galway city ring road. I have supported this project and its precursor, the Galway city bypass, for all of my political career. It is regrettable that two judicial reviews have been lodged as of now, with perhaps more to come. The one from Galway city race committee makes clear that the committee supports the road but has issues with the planning conditions, although it is still regrettable that an application for a judicial review was lodged.

The Galway transport strategy is supported by both local authorities in Galway, the city and county councils. Indeed, it was supported by Galway County Council unanimously. The strategy involves a range of measures being put in place to support public transport, including a new quality bus corridor through the grounds of the hospital, up University Road and through the Salmon Weir, use of which by private vehicles will be restricted. A range of measures under BusConnects have been committed to, including on the Dublin Road and elsewhere. A number of greenway projects are also included in the strategy but are in limbo in terms of final consent. Hopefully, yesterday's Supreme Court decision on the south Kerry greenway will act as a driver and incentive to develop and allow planning applications to be lodged for greenways across the country, including from Galway city to Moycullen and Oughterard.

It is a source of regret that judicial reviews have been lodged, although it is not surprising. Unfortunately, in this country at the moment, we have a high level of judicial reviews for everything. It has become a bit of an industry which is regrettable. I certainly welcome the decision of the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Peter Burke, to consider and reform the planning laws in a range of areas, including housing and critical infrastructure.

As we talk about alternatives to roads, we have to also look at the fare structures on buses. The adult daily return fare from Carna or Carraroe to Galway city is €20, for example. One can get to Dublin for less than that. That is not an incentive to use public transport. I welcome the initiative that has been put in place by my Green Party colleagues to provide reduced fares for students but we have to look at expanding that if we are serious about encouraging people to use buses as an alternative. That accepted, the Galway city ring road is vitally important to the people of Galway, the development of the city and quality of life. I hope that quick decisions can be made.

Finally, in this day and age, the use of cash and coins is greatly reduced but on toll roads in many different parts of the country there are coin-only toll booths and one cannot swipe a card. Perhaps we could write to TII or the operators of the toll booths to ensure that all booths have facilities to tap a card.