Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I spoke earlier about planning and transport but I would narrow that down to roads and rail. There is a principle that investing in a road of two or three lanes creates induced demand and the road fills up, which is not good for our road system. However, that is exactly what we want in a public transport system. We have seen it with the likes of the western rail corridor. When it started off the figures were low but it is a successful railway. Linking that western corridor phase 2 would also be successful. We saw it in Dublin city when we linked Heuston Station to Connolly Station and that filled up. When you build it, they will come. The exact principle should apply to our public transport that we do not want for our road system.

We need to have a conversation about roads. One can have an entire political career in regard to the build of a road but not a railway because it is slower and it does not impact as many people as tangibly as a road. Bringing a road to one's community is a sign that the community has not been left behind. That takes longer in regard to rail. The price tags on many of our roads are massive. One has to question the benefit of the investment in those roads in terms of sustainable transport, air quality and climate emissions. If we were to flip that investment and put it into railway we would be creating a 100-year asset that would never need to be widened and on which the frequency and the capacity can be increased with small modifications. That would serve communities sustainably. They are the political decisions that need to be made.

I have heard much discussion today about political decisions. The decision is whether to concentrate on public transport or on roads. I am not against roads. They are important. It is important we maintain our road systems and build the bypasses, where necessary, but we have to look at the massive price tags on those huge road projects listed in the in the TII brochure. In terms of cost, we could do every one of its rail projects, including the western rail corridor, the Tipperary branch, the Wexford to Waterford branch and the freight system if we were to remove some of those road projects from the list. They are the political decisions that need to be made.

Do we make that investment in public transport over new roads? It is currently 2:1. Do we go to 3:1? That is a political question.