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

I am pleased to hear that €287 million is being spent. It falls short of the €360 million but we have to recognise it will take time to build up to that and it is with the local authorities to develop the pipeline of projects. It would be good if the Minister of State could speak to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and ask him to consult the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on pushing the local authorities to develop that pipeline.

I welcome the Minister of State's point about 1,000 km of active travel infrastructure to be developed by 2025. I think we can be even more ambitious. That figure is predicated on a very high standard, which is needed in our towns and cities, but if we want to have more extensive networks across all our towns and villages, we can go for a standard of infrastructure that would not cost €1.5 million or so, which is the basis for the 1,000 km. It comes down to reallocating road space and making difficult political decisions around that. We need to address that.

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