Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I bring to my case again the Citizens' Assembly. The assembly did a fantastic job. There was exasperation among the assembly members at the lack of leadership from within Government. Sticking to the area of transport, one of the recommendations of the assembly was to switch the transport budget, currently under the watch of the Minister, from 2:1 in favour of roads over sustainable transport modes. The assembly members said this would show that the Government is serious about change and would back up its words.

It is not only about climate change. The policy is not working. This city is gridlocking. It is being killed at the moment for the lack of public transport expenditure. If we are serious about creating living cities that are vibrant economic and low carbon, then the Government should do what the Citizens' Assembly said and switch the transport budget ratio so that it is 2:1 in favour of sustainable transport rather than roads. Will the Minister commit to this Citizens' Assembly proposal as one of the ways in which we can start changing things?

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