Ms Deirdre Hanlon:

We are here today in response to the committee’s invitation to assist in its discussion on developing Ireland’s sustainable transport system. Three themes were identified by the committee on which we hope to help it: decarbonisation of the transport system; developing an integrated sustainable transport system; and empowering a modal shift in transport. We are joined by colleagues from three other Departments with whom we work closely in addressing the climate challenge, the lead on which falls within our various areas.

To look at the broad policy framework, the committee is well aware of the Government’s climate action plan that was published in May. That builds on the commitments in Project Ireland 2040, which the Government published a couple of years ago. The plan articulates the scale of challenge and the Government’s ambitions on climate action across all sectors. This is what sets the framework within which Departments are now working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to meet the Ireland’s international commitments on this front.

With regard to the transport sector, the Government’s policy can be described in terms of a model known as avoid, shift, improve. It is recognised internationally as a best practice approach in this area. The model gives us the focus and structure for the work we are doing. The first strand of our work is avoiding unnecessary distances in travel trips. What does this mean in practical terms? It is largely about making sure that both land use and transport are planned in a way that is mutually supportive. The aim over time is to bring better cohesion to the planning of where people live, their places of work and education, where they can shop, the location of public services they use and their places of entertainment and social interaction. Over time, this can influence the type of transport needs that will arise and help shape the ways in which those needs can be addressed effectively. We work closely with our colleagues in the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government on connecting the policies we have in the areas of transport and land use planning. We recognise the need for collaborating on and strengthening those policy links.

The second part of the paradigm is shifting more journeys for more people on to more sustainable forms of travel. To support this the Government is investing heavily, under Project Ireland 2040, to increase passenger carrying capacity in the public transport system and in the active travel system to support walking and cycling through the development of new infrastructure. The target is to make public transport and active travel options a viable alternative for more people, for more of their journeys.

The work we are doing aims to create the modal shift we have been talking about. It is about changing the mode of transport people use for journeys. This is supported by substantial funding from the Government’s ten-year capital investment plan and a number of targeted tax incentives developed by our colleagues in the Department of Finance.

There are still a large number of trips undertaken by people or to move goods for which active travel or public transport are not realistic options. This is where the third pillar of our model comes in. This is about seeking improvements to reduce the harmful climate impact of journeys through vehicle technology, improved fuel efficiency or the use of lower-emission fuels, which we call alternative fuels. Our colleagues on the energy side of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment take a lead role in this area.

Data on travel patterns show us that to radically reduce transport emissions, we must look to decarbonise private transport. The Government’s aim is to develop a set of policies that will support citizens in making the environmentally friendly choices to select greener vehicles and greener fuels now and into the future. To advance the transition to green motoring, the Department and our colleagues in the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment jointly led the low-emissions vehicle task force to find a whole-of-Government approach to these issues. The work of the group was structured over two phases. The first phase looks exclusively at electric vehicles. The group analysed what type of interventions would be appropriate and necessary to create a positive policy environment to assist in the transition to electric vehicles. These recommendations to Government were taken on board in the budgets for 2018 and 2019. Their implementation has been followed by an increase in the sale of electric vehicles. There are now approximately 14,500 electric vehicles, EVs, on Irish roads. This is a sharp increase from the low level of approximately 3,500 to 4,000 at the beginning of last year. The technology is getting better, driving ranges are improving, more vehicle models are becoming available and, very importantly, the cars are becoming cheaper over time. All of those developments and improvements are expected to continue in the coming decade and beyond.

As the committee will know, the climate action plan sets very ambitious targets for the move to electric vehicles by 2030. Now that the Government has adopted a target and policy, we are setting out to develop a roadmap of policy initiatives, which we call the policy pathway, that we need to implement to allow Ireland to achieve this ambition. Just as we did previously with the low-emissions vehicles task force, we are working in collaboration with other relevant Departments, including the Departments of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Finance, and Public Expenditure and Reform. The approach to achieving the EV target the Government eventually adopts, through the initiatives it introduces to support achieving that target, will require broad input and support to be effective. There will be public consultation in the course of identifying and deciding on the appropriate pathway.

The Government, Minister and Department are strongly committed to supporting and encouraging more sustainable forms of travel. This is central to our approach to decarbonising transport and to helping achieve a better quality of life and more liveable cities and areas. The climate action plan sets a target for more than 500,000 extra journeys per day to be taken either on public transport or by walking and cycling. This ambition is supported by the €8.6 billion investment in sustainable mobility secured under Project Ireland 2040. On this point, it is notable and will probably interest the committee that the Exchequer investment for new projects in public transport and active travel over the coming years not only equals, but well exceeds what is available for investment in new roads. This is a reversal of the situation that had pertained a number of years ago. In the past, investment in new road projects greatly exceeded investment in public transport. That is a considerable rebalancing for the period ahead.

As a final point, the committee may be interested in a new public consultation process the Minister launched a couple of weeks ago. It relates to a review of sustainable mobility policy, which refers to public transport, active travel and climate in transport. As part of this consultation, which runs until late January, we published extensive documentation, including papers and data analysis, the Department had prepared on the areas of public transport, active travel and climate action for transport. The aim is to help inform the public and to inform the discussion of these topics. In the course of this public consultation, we seek the views of transport stakeholders, public representatives and people across the country on these topics. We want to know what they think we have got right and what we need to improve.

It is now a full decade on from the previous policy document in this area, Smarter Travel, which was published in 2009. Our purpose is to reflect on what has happened thus far and to concentrate on shaping the path ahead. Do we need to refresh our priorities? How can our past experience inform our future approach? What can we learn from other places? That is important. We expect that today's discussion will help us in our consideration of those matters. We hope our opening statement is a helpful scene-setter for today’s discussion and we hope we can be of assistance to the committee.