Mr. Lorcan O'Connor:

I thank the Senator for those questions. In terms of balanced regional development, that is a key feature of very many planning policies that are in place. I see the metro project as very much a national one, given the significance of that and the criticality of it for the efficient operation of Dublin. As we have mentioned, we are looking at having the Luas in both Cork and, potentially in time, in Galway but it is part of a much wider transport strategy led by the NTA to ensure there is that balanced regional development.

On the roads side, the vast majority of our national roads are outside of Dublin and we are seeing that, as we look to see both new projects and the ongoing maintenance of our network, various aspects are taken into account from safety at one end of the equation through to ensuring we have the balanced regional development that is so important for a sustainable future. There is general acceptance that, for a long-term, sustainable position for Ireland, we cannot have everything concentrated in Dublin or on the east coast and we need those counterbalances around the country. We will certainly be very supportive of that from a TII perspective.

On the low-carbon programme, TII is looking at the ZEVI programme, which is the roll-out of the electrical chargers for electric vehicles, EVs, around the country. From a public transport perspective, we are generally looking at a transition from the traditional diesel engine through to EVs, whether that is in buses, trains or private cars.