Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Reduction of Carbon Emissions of 51% by 2030: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Christopher O'SullivanChristopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Daly has kindly stayed to take my question. I will put my question directly to Dr. Daly and I have two further questions for the other witnesses. My question relates to school transport, an issue that appears to resonate a lot with the committee membership. It is probably because many of us are from small town Ireland. I am from Clonakilty which Dr. Daly is familiar with as it is over the road from Kinsale. It has a similar population. There are approximately 5,000 people in Clonakilty. Both of the secondary schools are on the eastern side of the town while the main new residential areas are on the western side. That is the way the town has developed, and it is too late to go back. We cannot undo and redo the planning on that. Obviously, the ideal situation is to create bicycle and pedestrian connectivity from the residential areas to the secondary schools but it can be quite a hike for some people. Is there potential for the city-type school bus in our small towns, perhaps an electric bus that would do a run through the estates? Dr. Daly is familiar with Kinsale and I can testify as to what happens in Clonakilty. There is the morning rush hour, as was mentioned by Senator Pauline O'Reilly, where between 8.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. the town is absolutely chock-a-block.

It is because parents are trying to get their children, in the case of Clonakilty, from the west side of the town to where the secondary school provision is, that is, to the two secondary schools on the eastern side of the town. The school transport in a constituency such as Cork South-West is mainly based on getting kids from rural areas into the main towns for secondary school. Is there potentially a place for small-scale electrified buses to do a run of the estates or does that go against what we are trying to achieve?

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