Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

You have an airport, which is not very popular in climate change times.

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee and for all the work they are doing. The sustainable mobility policy, as it has been presented to us, is quite a radical document. It really is radical in a good way. Putting universal design principles and the hierarchy of road users central to its goals is very important. It will be about applying them in practice. The national development plan was launched last week. Many of the major rows ended up being about roads, cars and congestion. We need to have a modal shift.

I want to talk about people with disabilities and how the disability sector engages with the Department and how the Department engages with the disability sector. It is at the very top, along with pedestrians and cyclists, of the hierarchy of the road user model. We speak about journeys of great distance and commuting journeys. We talk about needing to make cycle lanes. I live in Swords. I do not feel safe cycling from Swords into town. Twenty years ago, I witnessed a fatality in Dublin city centre. It had a huge impact on me and where and how I cycle. I used to rip up and down the quays going to see my nana on Oliver Bond Street after school. Ever since, the thoughts of cycling into town have been very difficult. What are we doing to make it safer to cycle into Dublin city centre from distances of 23 km or 24 km away, such as where I live in Swords and areas such as the Donabate-Portrane peninsula? Hearse Road is not a cycle friendly route. It is the primary access route in and out of Donabate and Portrane. What are we doing in respect of infrastructure of that nature?

Getting back to people with disabilities, sometimes the biggest challenge is just getting to the bus stop. The dishing of a path can be a big barrier to accessing a wheelchair-accessible bus. People cannot get to the actual bus stop. These are the things we need to get right from the very start. Having the disability sector included and having people with disabilities central to all of this planning is vital.

It was great to hear that MetroLink is included. I have a problem with the use of the term "megaprojects". It invites negative commentary. Speaking about megaprojects is like some kind of Discovery Channel TV show such as "Megastructures" There is the idea that they are some kind of elective and almost vanity projects. These are all needed projects. BusConnects, MetroLink and DART+ are vital. They are as vital as the Luas and everything else. I have an issue with the language used.

With regard to electric vehicles, Senator Dooley raised an excellent point on the realities of living in villages. On Monday, I was speaking to people in Garristown and transport was mentioned. I represent a constituency that is rural, urban and commuting. Garristown is a rural village. Transport was involved in every issue that came up, such as, for example, better bus services. The reality is that people in Garristown will need their cars for many years. We need an improved bus service. Electric vehicle take-up needs to be incentivised because these vehicles are still very expensive. The year 2030 will arrive in the blink of an eye. If we are to meet the targets we need to look at scrappage schemes. This is something the Minister has pushed back on. I can understand this but we have to start planning for scrappage schemes to incentivise people with regard to electric vehicles.

I echo the points made by Senator Dooley. There are villages that development plans incentivise for people to live in. People are being told to come and live in a particular beautiful village and commute into Limerick, Ennis or Swords. We cannot incentivise this in development plans and not provide transport by means of buses, where necessary. If we are to move to electric vehicles, then these people and their homes should be prioritised.

The points on school transport were well made. With regard to the welcome half-price public transport initiative announced by the Government in the budget, what will be the technical impediments to this? Will it be a Dublin-centred scheme for people with Leap cards? What about the vast majority of the country that does not have access to Leap cards? We put forward a plan for a pilot scheme for free travel because we are concerned about the technical impediments of bringing on board this scheme. Not every transport provider is linked up to the Leap card system. I will be interested to hear if Mr. Spratt can shed any light on this.