Dr. Damien Ó Tuama:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to present today. There is a lot more research and thinking happening in the development of active travel now than there was 20 years ago, so it is positive in that sense. Mobility is changing all around Europe. Transport emissions have been growing incredibly quickly in Ireland since 1990 and it is simply unsustainable. The future of mobility has to be different. It is going to be partly electric and partly shared. It is going to involve much better public transport, but is also going to be active.

It is about de-siloing public health from mobility. Traditionally, they were very different spheres. I have a busy life and I do not have time to play sport, although I would love to, but I get my exercise every single day without fail from cycling into the city, or to the shops or to visit my mother. We need to start thinking in a more integrated way about the future of moving and public health. I would strongly endorse the points made by Dr. Byrne in his contributions. We need to imagine a future where moving around is not creating all of these negative externalities, which are very difficult, wicked problems to solve. Instead, when we are moving, we should be adding to society, adding to the environment and adding to our public health. We need to change radically how we think about mobility. Otherwise, we are snookered in terms of decarbonising the sector.

I thank all of the other contributors. I learned a lot from everyone I have listened to today.