Mr. Liam Bergin:

In terms of active travel in Dublin City Council, we are currently trying to find accommodation for 50 staff to work on this area. It is a priority for Dublin city. We have an executive manager-director who has been appointed solely to lead that. This is to create the critical mass in Dublin City Council, both from a resource point of view and from a strategic focus point of view, to allow us to deliver on it. I think one of the unintended consequences of Covid-19 was to allow us to bring to market a number of solutions in Dublin that demonstrated they could work without having to convince people in theory that they worked. We have by accident, and by design now, found ourselves in a position where active travel is demonstrable on the ground in Dublin. The benefits of it are clear.

In terms of EV charging, that follows behind that in this model shift. We do not want different types of traffic. We want less traffic in relation to it. That said, we are on a path in relation to our EV charging which fits in that broader context. Having the active travel piece first allows us then to slot another jigsaw piece into that, but informed by that modal-shift-first policy. A regional EV charging strategy is being launched on 13 July. The focus will be that this is not the solution but a consequence of the modal shift. It will not, therefore, be all things to all people. It is a consequence of the active travel.