David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will move on to public transport and policy development. First, I commend the NTA on the work it has done. I read its 2018 report, which was comprehensive. There have been many advances in public transport for which we can be thankful. There has been an increase in the use of public transport as well, which is good. I wish to examine, from a value for money perspective, how the NTA sees public transport evolving over the next ten to 20 years. Dublin, for example, is one issue. Obviously, projects such as metro north and BusConnects are two big developments in Dublin city. However, public transport outside Dublin is equally important. The national planning framework in the national development plan envisages regional cities. Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford are four regional cities. The plan envisages increasing the population in those cities, building capacity in them and for them to act as a counterweight to Dublin in terms of more balanced development and to ensure we do not overheat the capital city. We have to plan for that and for those population increases. Part of that must be public transport.

When looking at Galway, Limerick, Cork or Waterford, what criteria are used to assess what public transport systems should be in place? What modes of public transport must be put in place? Critical mass is obviously one element of it. The current population of my city of Waterford is 55,000. If that increases to 80,000, what changes? The same applies to Cork and Limerick. Is the NTA involved in that exercise of looking ten to 20 years into the future in the context of the national development plan? Second, has the NTA's analysis shifted or has there been a step change given that climate change, climate action, reducing emissions and ending, or at least reducing, car dependency are critical? How has that impacted on the policy development in these areas? Perhaps we can park the issue of Dublin for the moment, and I can return to it. In the cities I mentioned and in rural areas outside Dublin, what criteria would the NTA use to determine what type of public transport should be in place in a ten to 20-year timeframe?