Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Just to dig down into the next layer and into the local authorities, I am aware that active travel teams are being built across most of our local authorities and there is good investment in it. I have a worry about the competencies. The NTA's briefing note states it is worth noting that the NTA recommendations for staffing arrangements for the active travel teams in each local authority specifically included technicians and junior engineers to enable in-house design work to be undertaken. I support that but I do not see place-making or behavioural change, which I think are key roles in active travel schemes.

Leaving that to one side, does the NTA have a good line of sight of the money going into local authorities to deliver active travel schemes? How much of that is subsequently being outsourced? I have a good idea of where that stands in my own local authority but does the NTA have a national picture? Again, I have a worry that we are putting a lot of money into active travel but a lot of it is getting bounced out into consultancies. I do not know who is doing the design work there. I do not know what their pay and conditions are. I do not know what their competencies are and I am not necessarily always enthused by the quality of work that comes back from them.