Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Can I ask the Minister a few quick questions and he might take them? I am time-limited.

On the roll-out of Bus Connects, it seems to me that it is painfully slow, and I wonder if there is any way of injecting some acceleration into that? I know it requires dealing with a lot of physical and planning issues.

For my second question, I would be interested to know a little more about the mobility hubs which the Minister plans to support? What will be supported and to what scale? Perhaps he could provide us with that if he cannot give us all the detail? What will be there? Will it have park-and-ride? What extent of electric vehicle, EV, charges will be there? How many bike to rent schemes or other alternatives will be there, and what level of support will be given to councils for each element that they can put in? Presumably, some sites can accommodate park-and-ride, and some sites will have to be much more limited.

I have a third question I would like to put. It has been very useful in construction in trying to get a handle on the climate challenge, and to look not just at the emissions from the buildings, but the emissions that went into putting them there in the first place. In the transport sector, it is very clear that the purchase of an SUV has about 35 tonnes of emissions going into it versus a small car, which could be about ten tonnes. That is not in the conversation here at all, whereas it is making its way into the construction discussion, that people are looking to be zero not only in their emissions, but trying to reduce that piece of the picture. Should we try to broaden that conversation?

I would be interested to know more about the rental schemes. We are beginning to see some local authorities enter into rental schemes - Baldoyle in my own constituency, and Fingal has a small scheme. Does the Minister not have some sort of an umbrella strategy for seeing councils ensure well-arranged rental schemes, which do not prove disruptive as they have in some cases in other jurisdictions? We could shape that in a way that we could get rapid roll-out, without at the same time having the pushback of abandoned scooters, or disruption of different sorts.

I will leave it at that, because I know we are limited on time. A very strict Chair has come in.