Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We focused on that predominantly. There was some toing and froing but I asked the Minister a number of questions which were not answered.

Of the €5 million for bus and Luas investment, how many new buses will it deliver? Will they be hybrid buses? When were the eight additional Luas trams ordered and when will they be delivered? I also asked how many rail stations are not fully accessible. While the allocation of €200,000 is most welcome, have we quantified how much it will cost to make all our rail stations fully accessible? The Chairman and I attended the briefing with Irish Rail, and he is aware there is a significant problem with accessibility at rail stations. It will take considerable capital investment to address it. While the app is welcome, if people are being brought to a station but they cannot be facilitated when they arrive, that is another question.

On the cycling budget, according to the Minister's own figures, he is not spending what was spent by his predecessor. In 2015, the annual cycling budget was €18 million but last year, it was just over €10 million. The allocation of €400,000 is welcome, and the Minister claims that I am being overly critical by saying it is not enough, but we are not where the Department was before he came to office. I welcome that the Minister says he is a late convert to cycling and that he has bought into it, which is positive, but he should demonstrate his conversion by giving back the money his Department stopped giving to cycling infrastructure for the past two years.