Ms Marie Donnelly:

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for that clarification. He is absolutely right that aviation and marine emissions are not counted as part of our targets at that moment, although progressively they will be. To go back to the question about airports, the council does not have a view on growth. We are very positive about Irish society and the economy. If there is to be growth, very good, but it has to benefit everybody and it needs to be sustainable. To address the Deputy's specific question on airports, I would also extend it to ports because the emissions coming from airport sites and port sites are still very high. We already have technologies available for more sustainable airports and ports. When planes land, they will frequently continue to run their diesel engines either for air conditioning on the plane, powered lights or whatever the case may be. It is likewise with ships. When they dock, they will run their systems and power them by their diesel engines. What is proposed as part of the policy is that when a ship docks or a plane lands, it would link into the electricity system of the port or airport, which we hope will be decarbonised, and that will allow for a significant reduction in the airport's or port's emissions. These are entirely achievable objectives now with our existing technology. It just requires a change of practice by the management and operators of both airports and ports. That is one of the key elements in ensuring the sustainability of our airports going forward.

The council has never recommended free public transport. Our recommendation is to maintain the reduced fares. The Deputy is absolutely right that the analysis, studies and behavioural assessments that have been done have all shown that a charge is not necessarily a negative or a disadvantage in using public transport. Certainly, having reduced fares has proven to be an attractive feature and has increased our customer numbers on public transport. The Deputy is correct when he says that we need to get the balance right. It is also true that the financial demand for investment in our public transport system, be that in buses, rail or infrastructure supporting that, is very substantial. One of the issues we have identified is the roll-out of the soft infrastructure, that is, the routes and where to put DART+, the Cork commuter route or BusConnects, for example. All of these are subject to planning approval through our planning system. The speed at which the planning system is processing these is becoming a factor. It is a delay factor in terms of supporting the roll-out of the necessary improvements to our public transport system. The council is therefore very concerned about whether our planning system is sufficiently resourced, with both people and expertise, to be efficient and speedy in the processing of applications for strategic transport infrastructure such as the DART, BusConnects or a number of the improvements in the public transport system that are currently planned. The council is not suggesting zero cost for public transport. We are suggesting maintenance of the reduced fares with ongoing monitoring of their effectiveness. A key element is investment in improving our public transport system, both its availability and its expansion as necessary, in urban and rural spaces. The efficiency with which we can deliver that is a key element and one that needs to be addressed.