Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the contributors today. I thank also colleagues whose questions and contributions will probably inform what I am about to ask. Mr. Murphy is advocating for a complete switch from internal combustion engines to EVs. The question has been asked a little bit by Deputy Whitmore, but to what extent does Mr. Murphy think it gets us off the hook when we are talking about the avoid part of the strategy? I wish to address specifically a project near me which the contributors may be familiar with, which is the Galway ring road. One of the arguments there is that it would increase emissions by 37%. Electric vehicles address some of that issue. Dr. O'Mahony talked about urban sprawl and the increased travel distance. In some parts of that proposal, it would increase what is a 5.5 km journey to 22 km. Taking all that into consideration, should we be looking at these types of approaches or is it getting us off the hook when it comes to investment in a proper transport system for a city?

I also wish to ask Dr. O'Mahony about rail freight. The horse has bolted to a certain extent as far as reaching our targets by 2030 and 2050 is concerned. It might be too late for a huge investment in rail. However, if we are looking at the reopening of existing lines, such as the western rail corridor, for freight, this would require only a small amount of investment. Could this be part of the solution?

Mr. Cussen has answered about his remit as it relates to the national planning framework.

To what extent do the witnesses think it would be logistically possible to tweak the framework as we go, now that we have more scientific evidence? Do they think it is quite dangerous not to tweak it from a planning perspective if not doing so would mean we see changes to our settlement patterns that would create a difficulty in implementing the framework?