Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for their presentations. My first question is for Professor McKinnon. I used to work in freight transport. Professor McKinnon gave an example of using rail for freight travelling just 40 miles. Is that new? Will he elaborate on that? We very rarely use rail for freight. In my time, we did not deal with goods that would go off. We have the just in time principle. A cultural change is required in industry to address our addiction to having things immediately. Professor McKinnon said Ireland was so small that he could see the reason rail is not a significant mode of transport.

Dr. Windisch and Dr. Sloman spoke on the remote working hubs in Wales. Wales would be considered a rural country and Ireland also has many rural areas. There is a need for a complete change in thinking. The lack of thinking that got us to this place of peak pollution and global warming will certainly not save us. The witnesses spoke about free transport. The Netherlands has more bicycles than people. Is there any merit in considering free bicycles for children so that they get into the habit of cycling and will always use them? Does any country do that?