Galway City Council said it will place huge emphasis on achieving value for money over the next five years.

Ensuring, “optimal value for investment” was among the top priorities of its project management and capital delivery office.

The Council has come under fire from city councillors and the public in recent years, as some projects were overbudget and delayed.

This included the Active Travel project to convert Martin Roundabout to a signalised junction in Doughiska, which cost €1.3m more than was budgeted for. But the Council’s new Corporate Plan has pledged to provide value for money for taxpayers and ratepayers.

“We recognise our responsibility to achieve value for money in service delivery. We will seek to incorporate value for money principles in delivering services by taking account of costs, quality of services and the local context.

“We will access maximum resources from the national/EU exchequer and will underpin such funding through additional local resourcing across all income options, where feasible,” the Corporate Plan said.

The new plan, 2025-2029, was unanimously adopted by all city councillors at the December Council meeting.

The Council said it was committed to Galway “being a world class city”. Its corporate plan said the local authority would “celebrate and enhance” Galway’s “unique attributes and features”.

“We will build upon our diverse cultural, artistic, and Irish language heritage to enrich and expand our creative communities. We will embrace new approaches and empower our communities, with particular regard to those experiencing inequality.

“We will deliver inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth for a vibrant, safe, inclusive, and attractive city,” it added.

The City Council said the preparation of the plan came at a “challenging time” for Galway and Ireland.

“While considerable progress is being made in creating a world class city, the international instability of the past decade has created both political and economic conditions that will require on-going flexibility and agility in the socio-economic response of the Council.

“In addition, ongoing shifts in the international geopolitical environment means that the Council must be resilient and capable of responding to risks, many of which are outside of our immediate control, that will clearly be a feature of our operational environment over the life of the Plan. There will be many opportunities which the Council will use to the advantage of the city.

“Our move towards carbon neutrality, the growth in the skills of our people, led by a vibrant elected Council, among other positive features will help position the city to avoid the worse effects of international disruption, while underpinning its sustainable development.

“The growth of our population and our capacity for great culture and space for the arts, alongside a transformation of our physical realm and connectivity will position the city to be a world class city. Galway city will be a vibrant, resilient, and inclusive urban centre, positioning the city to meet the challenges of this century while preserving its unique cultural and environmental heritage,” Galway City Council’s corporate plan said.

Pictured: Galway City Hall