I welcome the proposals that will lead to the acceleration of infrastructure but what I want to talk about today are the people I represent in Galway East and the lives they live. Everyone who lives in Galway East and who commutes into Galway city faces the same issue of huge traffic. I believe - and the national development plan, NDP, backs this up, as it is funded - that there are three or four key solutions that are outlined in the NDP, are now funded and need to be delivered. We need to build the Galway ring road. That has to happen in the lifetime of this Government. It has to get approval from An Coimisiún Pleanála and it has to drive on. Let it not get stopped and leave people in their cars for years. Second, we have to implement and prioritise the buses through BusConnects because if you have a strong and solid bus service, people can rely on that, use it and it will be a cost saver for them. It will also aid the further reduction of traffic in Galway city. Third, we have to double-track the line from Galway city to Athenry and build the western rail corridor. The carriages that are on order also have to be delivered and we, as a Government, have to show leadership on that in getting them as soon as possible. This is a three-pronged approach through road infrastructure, bus services and rail. If those three things were delivered over the next five years, that would transform the quality of the lives of people living in Galway East right now. For the thousands of people commuting into Galway city every day, those few changes, which are funded under the national development plan and are in the planning process or already have plans, need to be delivered. We are at that stage where we have an opportunity to deliver. The funding is there and this Government needs to do it because the people will be so grateful to us if we can do these few things and get them right. People ultimately want freedom in their lives and the reality is that when they are trapped in their cars in traffic, waiting for a bus that does not arrive or squished in on the trains, we need to make their lives that bit better.

Sentiment score: 0.21