Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a requirement on this committee to do some due diligence on that, particularly on those pieces of work. It is about seeing what works, what has not worked, where the dangers are and, as Ms Tinsley said, what is even being reviewed at this time. To some degree the genie is out of the bottle in the sense that, in the past year, we have seen very many more of these things. To be honest, and I am on the record about this, I arrived home one day to find one in the house, unfortunately. My 17-year-old had decided it was a good idea to get it. He managed to break the battery within two days and I have not offered to fix it. I am sure he is like every other teenager one sees on them in Dundalk. They are wearing black tracksuits and there is no evidence of lighting. The only sound one will hear from them is when one of them crashes into somebody. However, I also see that it has taken root as a means of active travel. It is how we can wed that with the witnesses' needs. That will mean a great deal more interaction. On one level there is a requirement on us to do work, but there is also a requirement on the Department and the Minister to come forward with a discussion space for looking at these speeds, at a training scheme, for want of a better term, and then what is and is not doable. That has to be done as soon as possible.

I have probably used up most of my time. I will put a request to all the witnesses. There are obviously the specific requests contained in their submissions and opening statements. I have had a number of submissions locally from accessibility activists, people who are dealing with their own issues or other people within their organisations who have come to me about difficulties they have where I come from. They talked about the difficulties of getting buses, especially as regards wheelchairs, and buses not picking them up, being told lifts do not work, the design of pavements, which Ms Kennedy spoke about, and the fact new estates are not suited at times for bus pick-up points and so forth. We basically have a difficulty with town planning, particularly as it relates to transport in general. Would it be possible to get a submission from the witnesses on that? I know it is a lot to ask and I am sorry about that, but it is a piece of work we have to do ourselves. That will add to our conversations when we are dealing with issues relating to taxis, bus, rail and so forth in the future.