Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It seems to me that, as we transition to an e-car fleet, we should probably think about how we do on-street parking and whether we should do on-street parking. In many cases, it seems it is a poor use of public space and it might make sense from an infrastructure point of view to put parking in more central locations for people who are living in urban areas, separate to those people who are living in apartment developments.

I have a few more questions and I will then invite members in for a third round because we do have time. When the witnesses were answering questions, I found that piece of research from the UK on carbon emissions. It is peer-reviewed research that says that if there is a very significant transition to e-bikes in the UK, it can halve its transport emissions, which is staggering. We need to look at the potential here as well because, at this point, we do not quite know how we are going to get to the 50% reduction in emissions in the transport sector by 2030. The EVs obviously play a role, public transport plays a role and active transport pays a role, but if we do all the sums around this, it does not add up to the 50%.

I want to ask Dr. Ó Tuama about infrastructure. He made a very clear and good point about the importance of coherent and cohesive networks if we really want to see the uptake of cycling, walking and e-bikes as well. Will he comment on the need for quick interim infrastructure? Much of what we are seeing in planning is infrastructure that will take a few years to develop and the process is quite unwieldy, with multiple stages of consultation, and the cost of this kind of infrastructure is very high. However, during the Covid pandemic, we saw the roll-out of interim infrastructure right across the country, in our towns and cities in particular, and we could see how effective it was. Perhaps Dr. Ó Tuama could comment on that.

With regard to the experimental traffic schemes that are mooted, I know the Minister has talked about amending the miscellaneous provisions Bill to allow for experimental traffic orders of the kind they have in the UK.

I would like to hear the witnesses' thoughts on that, in addition to the big question of reallocation of road space.

I will go through a few questions and then bring the witnesses in. I will be interested to hear from Dr. Byrne about research in the medical field around the impact on public health of a car-oriented transport system and the sedentary lifestyles that go with that. It is something we need to consider because it seems we often do not value the co-benefits of alternative transport systems. Will he tell us about research in that area? If he has anything he can send to us, we can certainly seek to include it in our report because it is very important.

Dr. Byrne also touched on the risks around larger vehicles and SUVs, the height of these vehicles and the fact their drivers do not have the same scope of vision. These cars may be safe for the people in them but are much less safe for those who are not. I will be interested to hear more on that and research that might be available that could help us when we compile our report.

Ms Sayers spoke about charging electric vehicles at night-time and availing of different electricity rates and smart meters. She mentioned the potential for vehicles and the electric car fleet to stabilise the electricity grid. Has the ESB looked at the potential of that? Perhaps ESB Networks or EirGrid will have some interesting information on that, but has Ms Sayers anything to tell us about its potential? Has the ESB assessed it? What research has it done in that area?