Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I have criticisms but my central criticism is that the transport section in the plan is woeful. There is a complete lack of ambition for change or for efficiency and long-term decarbonisation. The Government is sticking with our current transport plans and converting diesel cars into electric vehicles. While I very much support electric vehicles, the change is not sufficient. First, rather than just saying there will be 860,000 electric cars, the Government should make car sharing happen. The State may achieve the same reduction in emissions and the same transport service by only buying half, a third or a quarter of those cars, which may be much more achievable.

Similarly, I refer to the lack of any other vision for a switch away from our current road-based transport system, which has led to further sprawl. It is fundamentally unsustainable and impossible for us to meet our 2050 net zero target if the State continues with what the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is overseeing, which is a massive continuation of long distance commuting and sprawl, a major use of resources and ever increasing building out and out, and a road-based system that can never be climate ready even if the entire fleet comprised electric vehicles. The Government must address the gridlock we are facing and the social and environmental costs of consumption of an individual car-based system.

I accept and welcome the Minister saying it is an iterative process. However, the first thing that has to go in that context is the transport section. This or another Government will have to come back with something completely different as this does not deliver. I have set out some of the reasons why at the transport committee. It completely fails to address the scale of the challenge. What was the level of co-operation from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport? Why did it not come back with anything other than, in effect, a daft scrappage scheme for which there is no detail and a congestion charge hint that does not mean anything. It is just about certain electric vehicles. After two or three years in everyone's crosshairs, this is the one Department which is failing completely to address this issue. Why has it come back with nothing else? Why is it failing so clearly in its responsibilities?