Hear hear.

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the serious traffic issue at present in Galway. As everybody knows, Galway city is the centre of the west of Ireland but the way it is currently progressing, it is running into trouble with traffic. We have the outer ring road which has been on the books for at least 15 to 20 years. About €30 million has been spent on it and we have nothing to show for it.

A report came out last week or the week before regarding Gluas, a light rail project for the city.

Hear, hear.

The problem is that in the east of the county, many of our young people and workers go to work in Galway city every morning and come out in the evening. They probably spend about an hour and half in traffic every day of the week trying to get in and out of work. There is no guarantee they will arrive on time. This is coupled with the fact we have been talking about putting in place a bus lane from Claregalway into the city since 2007. I think Noel Dempsey was the Minister for Transport at the time and it still has not happened. We need to do something about the traffic and the flow of traffic into the city.

When you look at the road from Castlebar or Shrule to Galway through Headford on the N84, there is a very poor road network with very little public transport. I met the NTA on this particular issue this week and I was told what it can do and that it will carry out a review. We have a situation where traffic is piling up on the outer edge of our city and is not getting in or around the city. We need a comprehensive plan and to put in place certain instruments that will start to build traffic flow into our city. Otherwise, we will be losing jobs and we will be losing sight of ourselves. In a region, the northern and western region, that is in decline according to the EU, we need to make sure we have proper investment in our infrastructure to allow us to reach our full potential.

Dexcom is being built in Athenry at present, which is great news, but we need to make sure we have the traffic and infrastructure to allow workers to get there. It is important we look at this as a comprehensive crisis in the west of Ireland that needs to be resolved. I ask the Taoiseach to give me his comments on this issue.

I thank Deputy Canney for raising a number of matters. First, I agree with him on the need to continue to invest and deliver more projects around Galway city and county and to address the huge congestion issues. I would point, and my colleagues have reminded me, to some of the progress that has been made in recent times. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, has made the point to me that the cross-city bus link has just got planning permission from An Bord Pleanála. When the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, was working in that Department, we saw significant investment in Oranmore and Ceannt train stations. These were significant measures that I know have made a difference.

We have invested heavily in our national road network with an extensive motorway system now in place. The motorway network has seen an almost tenfold expansion since 2000. The Galway city ring road is something I support. It was approved by An Bord Pleanála with conditions in December 2021, as Deputy Canney's constituents are all too aware of, but subsequently three applications for judicial reviews were submitted to the High Court, which imposed a stay on progressing the scheme. An Bord Pleanála subsequently decided not to oppose the judicial review taken by Friends of the Irish Environment against the decision to grant planning permission. On 30 January 2023, the High Court quashed the An Bord Pleanála decision to approve the scheme and remitted the application back to the board. An Bord Pleanála is to reconsider the application and make a new decision. It has requested further information from the county council, including an updated environmental impact assessment and a Natura impact statement. That project has now been remitted to An Bord Pleanála for consideration.

I want to see progress on this and the Galway city ring road is a really important part of that. It is a component of the Galway transport strategy and I hope this is something we can make progress on. As the Deputy rightly said, €3 million of taxpayers' money has been allocated by TII for this project this year. This is something I hope we can progress, subject to the planning issues. I assure the people of the Deputy's region that investing in both this road and in public transport remains an absolute priority.

I appreciate what the Taoiseach has given me there. It is a history lesson, let us say. What I think can and should be done is to first look at the work the Minister, Deputy Ryan, has carried out in the all-island rail review. The western rail corridor can be reopened without having to go through all the processes on which we spend millions. It does not need a rail order or planning permission. It can and is ready to go ahead. It is important we get that moving as a matter of urgency. It is something that can be delivered in a very short time and that will help commuters. It will help our rail freight and will also alleviate the traffic congestion we have going into the city.

I know that a passing loop between Athenry and Galway city is being put in at Garraun but it has taken so much time that we are only at planning permission stage now. We need to be able to fast-track these projects and to give some sort of hope to the people working in the city every day that they will be able to get to work on time and in the shortest time possible.

I definitely was not trying to give the Deputy a history lesson but what I was trying to politely push back against was the assertion that we are not investing in the transport infrastructure. I know those works I referenced in Oranmore and Ceannt are under way and I know the Deputy and others will welcome that.

When it comes to Dexcom, the idea of its potential for a rail freight siding there could also assist the company and we are happy to engage constructively on that. The western rail corridor is an exciting proposition and I know the recent all-island strategic rail review recommended we reopen the western rail corridor. This will be seen in time as a pivotal milestone in this regard. I note it is a review that has been very warmly welcomed in Galway and Mayo. I point out that the project has been highlighted in the review as one that the Deputy has correctly noted the Government can progress in a short timeframe. It is unlikely we can progress it in the next 24 to 48 hours but it does give a very strong case to those of us fortunate enough to be elected or re-elected to Dáil Éireann to have the progress for that in any future programme for Government, whosoever may make up that Government. I believe the work done on the rail review puts the western rail corridor in a really strong position to progress.