Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter this morning. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, to the Chamber to discuss a Galway project. It is great to have a Galway Minister of State who also has a huge interest in rail. Light rail for Galway is a concept that first emerged in the 1970s when the then Chamber of Commerce visited Freiburg in Germany to see how their system served that city. Each decade since there have been renewed calls for a light rail system to service the city and suburbs. The present Gluas group, all volunteers, have campaigned very successfully to a point where there was almost unanimous support among communities, businesses and institutions for a Galway light rail system. The Gluas group recently met groups from the city and county councils and also presented to Oireachtas Members here in the audiovisual room. I acknowledge my colleague Deputy Catherine Connolly for facilitating that, and the work done by a former Member of this House, Pauline O'Reilly, in supporting and pushing this project.

There has been overwhelming support for the project. Galway city was one of the worst traffic-congested cities in Europe in 2024. It was the ninth worst. There are costs to traffic congestion. It affects people's lives and their well-being. There are losses to businesses, along with frustrations and all of that. There are also decisions to avoid the city for investment, which is another worrying possibility. They are huge costs. The delays on the decision around the Galway city ring road project only add to the level of frustration and the missed opportunities for the city and the citizens of Galway.

I do not have to tell the Minister of State that Galway is geographically ideal from a light rail point of view. Squeezed as it is between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay it has developed into a long narrow strip from Doughiska to Barna. If we consider the possibilities of expansion in Ardaun and Garraun eastwards towards Oranmore and the expansion of Knocknacarra and Barna to the west, this layout is ideal for a light rail system that would create a public transport spine for the greater Galway area, accessible to the maximum number of people, and connectivity to the industrial centre east of the city and the residential suburbs to the west. There are two universities in the city and four hospitals, all of which would be immediately adjacent to an east-west Gluas line, giving easy access and reducing the need for parking spaces at all sites, which is a perennial problem.

Gluas, together with a fully reopened western rail corridor, would give us a sustainable public transport system that would future-proof the city and its environs for generations to come. Galway city's population is approaching 90,000 and its immediate environs push this to well past 100,000. The projections are that it will meet 140,000 over the next ten to 15 years. We need to look to the future of Galway city. There is an opportunity in the national development plan, which is forthcoming. I would like to see this project funded in terms of the next stage. The feasibility report has been published. The next stage will be the emerging preferred route design and the engagement and consultation that goes with this. That needs to be funded in the national development plan. As I said, this is not an either-or situation. I support this project but it does not mean I do not support the Galway city ring road, which of course I do, or the western rail corridor, the reopening of which I have been a long-time supporter of and advocate for.

I look forward to the Minister of State's response because I know he has an interest in rail due to his advocacy for the western rail corridor. I believe the Gluas project would be a great addition and would provide the connectivity to the existing rail line in the city.