Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The new infrastructure there is a quantum leap and that needs to extend right the way into town and it can. The council is examining many interim solutions. All the money does not necessarily have to be spent on civil works. What Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council showed is how cycling infrastructure can be created without necessarily having huge interventions. That is what we need to do.

I mentioned brave political decisions. There was a public meeting in my neck of the woods on the issue last night. Beaver Row is currently two-way but is completely dysfunctional. It is very narrow, is not safe and does not work for anyone really. The plan there, which I am confident will be delivered in the very near future, will make it one-way, create a two-way cycle lane and make it really safe for everyone on any school near that route. This will transform people's choices. It is about allocation of spaces.

In response to the Leas-Chathaoirleach's first question, there is a very mixed pattern at the moment. The Stillorgan sites have been derelict for decades and they are starting to be built on. Cherrywood is not a great example of speed because it has been so long in coming but we are starting to see the investment we made in the Luas matched by housing developments in the area and people have public transport infrastructure in place before the apartments are built. These are the positive signs.

The Leas-Chathaoirleach is right in that a lot of new housing is in counties surrounding Dublin with the ongoing doughnut effect of ever-outward development. Those towns, areas and counties can and will have a really important role but we must be careful not to hollow out our cities and see all the growth in an ever-extending outward area. One of the mechanisms to address this is, again, set out by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in Project Tosaigh. This involves plans involving significant State investment in the national planning framework objectives of better balanced regional development, compact development and low-carbon development. One of the major initiatives we need to undertake in the next year is invest in many of those housing projects that have not become viable because of high interest rates and for the State to intervene to make sure we do build them because that would be of significant benefit in building back into the centre of our towns and cities.

Some of the other measures such as Croí Conaithe are starting to really work. That can be seen it in towns around the country where vacant and derelict properties are starting to be redeveloped. People are picking up on this. It is starting to happen. It is not all negative.