Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I welcome everyone and compliment then on the work they continue to do in advocating for safe cycling infrastructure in our larger urban centres and for the safety of all cyclists across the country. It is exceptionally important work. Along with Deputy Eamon Ryan, Cyclist.ie, the Dublin Cycling Campaign and I BIKE Dublin have been banging this drum for many years and, hopefully, they are now being listened to at last. Deputy MacSharry did not intend his comment to be taken this way, but when a contribution on a subject like cycling is prefaced by stating that this might matter in the leafy suburbs of Ranelagh but that we also have to worry about roads infrastructure across the country, then I am obliged to point out that cycling matters to every community.

We have to move on from portraying the perception that this is a transport solution only serving the needs of a minority. That is not the case. Cycling has the potential to transform the way we move people around all of our cities and towns, as well as rural Ireland. Coming in along the canal from the direction of Fairview and Clontarf, as I do from time to time, there is extraordinary infrastructure in place. There is also poor, but not terrible, infrastructure along the N11 into the city. If we consider the overall situation, we can see that the beginning of something special is under way.

Mr. Baker referred to CSO data. In Dublin and the greater Dublin area, GDA, more people cycle to work and study every morning than use the Dart, Luas and commuter rail combined. That is an extraordinary community of people who have chosen to use their bike as their main method of transport to get to and from work and-or study because it makes sense. It is a quicker, healthier and more sustainable method of transport.

The Chairman is right to raise the issue of BusConnects. That is an opportunity being presented to us right now. We cannot allow the dumbing down of that initiative or for priority to continue to be given to travel by car, mostly with single occupancy. That is a mode of transport that is completely unsustainable, not remotely healthy and possibly the slowest way to get around this city.

I hope we can somehow galvanise the support of the cycling community here in Dublin and increasingly similar communities in places like Galway, where we have the example of the great work of the Galway cycle-bus.

That shows what is possible when children as young as five or six years of age are offered an opportunity to cycle to school safely. That is, thankfully, being replicated in some other cities nationally.

There is something very special waiting to happen here. It is about leadership and all of us who are Members of the Oireachtas and who recognise the value of what can happen here need to work together on this. I know that Senator Bacik worked hard last year and there is now a small group of people who are committed to working towards safer cycling infrastructure for all. We need to expand that group.

I thank Deputy MacSharry and, indeed, his predecessor as Fianna Fáil spokesperson in this area, Deputy Troy, for the excellent work they have done in producing a comprehensive cycling policy, something that Fine Gael has not done. We need to move to a point where we begin to develop a very strong consensus across the whole of the Oireachtas about what is possible and not lose sight of the potential that exists for a healthier, more sustainable, more efficient and quicker way of moving people around our towns and cities.

However, this is not limited to towns and cities. There are people who approach the edge of Galway city every morning in their cars and come to a complete halt. It is then taking somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour to travel the 4 km to 5 km to their places of work. I know that Galway City Council is working on a new transport strategy for the city and it tells me that new cycling infrastructure is an intrinsic part of that strategy. I hope that is the case and that the council is not dissuaded from that ambition.

This is an opportunity waiting to happen across the whole country and we should work towards it, not become disillusioned, and work to support these extraordinary people who have been pointing out to us the benefits of this for many years. I thank our guests for coming in.