John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I remember passing through Longford one day and seeing a massive sewerage investment programme being developed. That went on for years. I am not trying to say that Longford lost a cycle route because so much went into Longford, far from it. I just recognise that significant infrastructure went into Longford in its time.

I am replying to this debate because, unfortunately, the Minister for Transport cannot be here this evening. Reflecting the need to commence early progress towards a sustainable transport future as outlined in the Government's smarter travel plan 2009-2020, Ireland's first national cycle policy framework was published in April 2009. The stated policy of this framework is to create a strong cycling culture in Ireland. The overall target is that 10% of all trips will be by bicycle by 2020. This is an ambitious target which means that cycling must be promoted and supported in all of our cities, towns and rural areas.

The development of a national network of both rural and urban cycling routes is a specific objective of the cycling policy framework. It identifies the need to deliver high quality cycle routes on a nationwide basis so as to encourage cycling for transport, leisure and tourism. The policy framework also identifies that the delivery of interurban routes, in the form of a national cycle network, would be in addition to the recognised need for the provision of safe cycling routes within urban areas. In response to that objective and at the Minister for Transport's request, the National Roads Authority undertook to carry out a scoping study on the extent of such a network. The NRA engaged with a range of stakeholders during the preparation of this scoping study, including the National Trails Office, Fáilte Ireland, Waterways Ireland and the CIE group. The range of stakeholders involved ensured that the study built on previous work and also engaged those who will be integral to the delivery of a national cycle network. The scoping study has been completed by the NRA and is available on the smarter travel website.

While the operational detail of the study and the assessments made are a matter for the NRA, the study outlines a number of key points. A number of criteria were chosen for testing the various route corridor options, including connecting major cities and settlements of greater than 10,000 population; facilitating commuter, leisure and tourism usage; connecting to the proposed Fáilte Ireland network; utilising existing infrastructure; achieving good coverage nationwide; and promoting social and economic development. The results are reflected in the strategic inter-urban corridors proposed in the study, which have a network length of some 2,000 km.

When considering the study, it is important to note that it explicitly states that the network it outlines represents corridors and not routes. The study does not indicate the specific routes that could be delivered along these broad corridors. The study also specifically notes that the identified corridors are seen as providing a skeleton around which development of the national cycle network should occur.

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