Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I am confident that we can do better in reducing greenhouse gas emissions if we develop a comprehensive strategy, but I am not confident that we are approaching this critical topic in a serious way. While we can see public money being used to purchase carbon credits, they are being used as a get-out-of-jail-free card because there is no evidence of a short or medium-term strategy to counterbalance such purchases.

While many of the public transport elements of Transport 21 are welcome, a closer examination shows that it has serious gaps, a number of which I wish to highlight. My constituency is described as being in the heart of the commuter belt, but when Transport 21 is complete in ten years there will be a good rail service between Hazelhatch in Celbridge to the city centre, but Sallins, the next station along the line, which serves Naas and its hinterland and is designated for considerable growth, will not have a comparable service. The same is true of Kilcock, which is developing on the Kildare and Meath sides of the town and is closer to the city centre than many parts of County Dublin. It will continue to be served by a single train line after Transport 21 has been completed. The relationship between land use and transport planning can be illustrated by these two examples.

From daily traffic on the N4 and the N7, we know what traffic levels are like in 2007. What will they be like in 2017 if no alternative is provided? We are fixated on moving vehicles rather than people and goods in the most sustainable way possible. If one factors in the cost of carbon credits, accident rates, time lost to the economy and high levels of traffic congestion, public transport becomes an attractive proposition. Without evidence of a strategy to provide a short, medium and long-term public transport alternative, our greenhouse gas emissions will continue to climb.

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