Mr. Conn Donovan:

With regard to cycle lanes ending abruptly, part of the problem is that investment is handed out in a piecemeal fashion, so local authorities use that investment to deliver a small section. There is probably an underappreciation of the fact that delivering a small cycle route is like sprinkling small flakes over a city. It is not really going to give people an option to cycle across a city or from one trip destination to another. We really need to move to a place to where we are thinking about routes, as the Deputy stated. We need to have two trip destinations that people can travel between. We must offer people a safe and quality service between those routes. If there is a gap in that route, people are perhaps being exposed to a risk they may not be willing to take. As Senator Boyhan noted, according to the TII Travelling in a Woman's Shoes report, cycling is the most deemed to be the most dangerous form of transport for women in Ireland. We must, therefore, make routes high quality and inviting. As we are spending a lot of public money on cycle and walking routes in the next few years, we really need to appreciate that we are spending that money for people who are in cars now. We are not spending it for people who are cyclists or who like cycling; we are spending it to get people essentially out of cars and into cycle lanes, onto footpaths or into public transport with regard to BusConnects. There needs to be an emphasis on quality and routes as opposed to lanes.

On the Deputy's second question, there has been massive underinvestment in the area north of Cork city. It has happened for many reasons. There were a lot of quick wins on the southside in terms of old tracks and rail routes that could be converted to greenways. That is not the reason that it has continued to be so bad in recent years. Looking at areas such as Blackpool, 2 km from the city centre, there is no safe cycle route even though a national road and two urban streets are running parallel. It hits on the key point that we must ensure that cycling does not become a privilege of certain people, classes or genders in cities. It should be for everyone. Whether a person is aged eight or 80, he or she should have the option of moving round the city by bike.