Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the holding of this debate and compliment Deputy Troy. It is clear to anybody who drives into a city every morning that more and more people are using bicycles. This can be seen every single day, especially in the larger cities. Motorists always fear encountering a cyclist when turning left. We need to consider constructing something like a flyover. It is a death trap when motorists are turning left and cyclists are going on straight. We need to do something about this issue in and around cities as, unfortunately, accidents will happen.

The Wild Atlantic Way has been a huge success. I also echo what was said that the bike to work scheme is a good one.

We need to include sensible laws in upcoming legislation dealing with bicycles. There is a proposal on the what the distance should be between a car and a bike. Some roads, especially in rural areas, are not wide enough for a car to go down, never mind stay one and a half metres from a cyclist. We need to make sure we are not codding ourselves in some respects.

On greenways, there is a need to work with farming communities. In fairness, everyone is in favour of having them; it is just a matter of how we go about providing them. Sometimes they are imposed on people and there are certain worries in that respect. The Minister should try to work with people on cycle ways. Ordinary byroads in countries such as Holland can resemble barley fields. There are a lot of byroads, with interconnection, that would be suitable for use, especially in rural areas, but it is only in working with farming communities that the Minister will get to the destination required.

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