John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week, the Government announced the climate action plan. Unfortunately, what we have seen today in the NTA's draft transport strategy from 2022 until 2042 is a failure to bring forward ambition. There is certainly no ambition when it comes to Wicklow. Unfortunately, we have a Government that makes little mention of Wicklow, especially west Wicklow, which has little or no public transport. The Government is blocking the upgrade of the N81, which is critical infrastructure. If the Government is serious about reducing the daily number of car journeys by 500, one would think that it would put public transport in place. There is no mention of west Wicklow in the NTA strategy, such as extending the Luas from Tallaght to Blessington. There is no provision for increased bus services. On the other side of the county, there is little by way of plans for the Dublin to Rosslare rail line that could be rolled out immediately.

There is a reference to the possibility of extending the DART to Wicklow town. It has been talked about over the last number of years and it is badly needed but according to this plan, it may happen within the next 20 years. It is a failure of ambition. There has been talk over the last decade about extending the Luas as far as Bray. That was contained in previous plans, with the possibility of getting that brought forward before 2030. In this plan, it could be 2042 before that takes place. Unfortunately, the two main roads in the county, the M11-N11 and the N81, are both congested daily. People sit in their cars, trying to commute to work, because of the failure to provide jobs within the county. We need to go back to the drawing board in respect of the climate action plan and the draft NTA plan because they fail the people of Wicklow. They fail dismally to put in place the infrastructure and public transport that are needed now. We have 19th century infrastructure for the railway in the county. That needs to be invested in now, not 20 years into the future.

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