Mr. Ray O'Leary:

To be honest, the answer to those kinds of issues do not necessarily lie in legislation. To some extent this is always an issue and we cannot legislate for or against what might be called "road courtesy". It can be encouraged through education. The State cannot do everything to change behaviour but we can encourage it through education, enforcement and, in some cases, engineering or investment. For example, greenway investment provides an alternative. One of the biggest issues, whether it is in rural or urban areas, is the limited amount of road space. We are trying to manage a limited amount of road space with a limited amount of funding to maintain and invest it and make the best use of it for the many different people who want to use it. This takes in the tourist, the tractor and the cyclist. One of the advantages of greenways, for example, is to create space for more vulnerable road users and reduce the chances of them being in "conflict", to use the word in the engineering sense and where it refers to different kinds of users on the same stretch of road.

The Deputy might be aware that on the national secondary route from Tralee to Dingle, a cycle track was built into the side of the road despite environmental objections being made. The track required some extra width and an environmental organisation objected to the inclusion of a cycle track being added to the improved road. That has been delivered but such a project is subject to environmental capacity and resources available for investment. There will always be a mix of different solutions. We might work with local authorities where investment in an alternative route or in enhancing the existing route is feasible. Engagement with stakeholders can be useful in trying to encourage people to respect each other, whether that is a driver respecting a cyclist or the cyclist respecting the driver.

From the road safety perspective, we do not like using terms like cycling safety. We talk about road safety for everybody because people do not live in boxes. The same people who use bicycles use buses, footpaths and cars. Therefore, it is about trying to create the conditions where people using public infrastructure can do so in an optimal way.