Recent proposals for congestion charges in Galway as part of an effort to reduce car dependency, have been firmly ruled out, as the necessary public transport infrastructure is not yet in place.
Charging people from the county to do their shopping in the city would also be counter-productive, it was claimed last night by Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton, who told the Advertiser that introducing such charges at a time of heightened cost-of-living would be ‘unthinkable.’
“While congestion charges do work, in principle, they require the requisite public transport infrastructure to take the added burden. We do not have that infrastructure yet, particularly in Galway, and any proposal to introduce them was putting the cart before the horse,” the Galway Minister said.
“There are many positive public transport initiatives underway in Galway, including the development of the City’s new bus-connects network, the upgrading of Oranmore Train Station, consideration of a Luas style system and the redevelopment of Galway’s Ceannt Train Station, but they are not complete.
“Until these projects, and others, are on-stream, introducing congestion charges would not be fair, particularly in circumstances where a large percentage of people have no alternative to car use,” she said.
“I was chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Climate Action Committee, whose report was the basis of the Government’s ground-breaking Climate Action Plan, and fully agree with the need to move away from fossil fuel use. However, telling someone in rural County Galway that they have to pay to do their shopping in Galway City and without the option of public transport for the journey is both illogical and counter-productive if we are to achieve public consensus on the issue of climate change.”
“Everyone knows we are undergoing an increase in the cost of living and introducing such charges, without cost-effective public transport options, is frankly unthinkable at the moment.
“While such charges could be considered down the line when the requisite infrastructure is in place, now is certainly not the time and I am happy to confirm that no such charge will be introduced in Galway during the lifetime of this Governmentm” she concluded.
