Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the Government agreed to begin work on an overarching well-being framework for Ireland as a way of establishing a better view of how our society is performing beyond the existing economic measurement tools. Quality of life needs to be at the very heart of our policies and transport mobility has a significant part to play in that regard. We must change how we think about transport projects and, in that regard, people should be at the centre of what we do. Our priority must be focused on moving people in a way that is healthy and sustainable for them, for our communities and for our environment.

Transport makes up one fifth of our emissions. During this pandemic, while we have seen a significant reduction in road traffic, our transport emissions have reduced by only 17%. We need to triple that reduction approximately in the next ten years. The scale and urgency of our challenge is daunting. As Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action, I am pleased to tell the House that committee members are starting a work programme to look specifically at transport and climate action. I am very grateful to my committee colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, with whom I am designing the work programme. The committee will shortly be inviting a range of national and international expert witnesses to inform our work.

Transport is a vital part of climate action but its benefits reach far beyond that. Poor spatial planning and urban sprawl and its resulting car dependency have had severe adverse health impacts on our population. People are dying because of them. Each year in Ireland, there are 1,500 preventable deaths due to air pollution. Polluted air from traffic emissions is linked to asthma, eyesight loss and Alzheimer's disease. Research has found that inactive lifestyles are linked to heart disease, stroke and premature death. We have designed physical activity out of our daily lives through poor planning. We must proactively redesign it back into our lives.

I warmly welcome the Minister's announcement today about the improvement of the transport network in Limerick. It is vitally important that road access is not a stand-alone measure for the community in Moyross. A road for private cars alone will never solve a connectivity, economic or social inclusion problem. The revised approach of including dedicated bus lanes and finally opening up access from Moyross to neighbouring estates and education facilities for active mobility, walking and cycling is crucial for good connectivity and to provide true opportunity for Moyross. This applies across the country in all communities. Moyross is not a stand-alone community. It is part of Limerick city and its future is to be a centre of housing and employment as an integrated part of the city. For too long, despite its proximity to the city centre, it has been effectively segregated. That cannot continue and I will make every effort to ensure we resolve it. We are committed to investing heavily in a suburban rail system in the Limerick city area, with new stations in places such as Shannon, Raheen, Ballysimon, Adare, Annacotty and Moyross. Connecting all of them will bring very significant investment and development to those areas.

Let there be no doubt that sustainable connectivity is not only better for the environment but far better for public health, economic development and social inclusion. A modern national transport and mobility network helps to ensure that everyone can avail of the opportunities that come with access to education, employment, public services and amenities. We need to grow vibrant and sustainable regional cities if we are to achieve balanced regional growth in Ireland. I thank the Minister for taking the time to review the entire transport plan in order to achieve a better outcome for Moyross, the city of Limerick and the entire mid-west region.

See this speech in context