Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This is a timely debate, particularly given the announcement of the transport strategy for the greater Dublin area that was published today. It is important that other parts of the country pay attention to what is occurring with this strategy because one would expect the same approach to follow in other areas. Between 1996 and 2016, the population growth in this region was as follows: Dublin city and Dún Laoghaire both grew by 13%; south Dublin by 28%; Fingal by a whopping 41%, making it the fastest growing area in the country; Meath by 40%; and Kildare by 39%. Fingal, Meath and Kildare absorbed most of the population growth and housing development.

Looking at patterns of growth elsewhere, the suburbs of Cork have grown. The part of the county that has come into the city has grown most. In Galway, development is occurring in the suburbs and putting significant pressure on the city centre, without transport alternatives, rail being the most efficient of those. We see housing developments arriving in what is called a development-led approach. There is pressure on facilities and services, such as schools and community facilities, but transport is the most prevalent one. As I pointed out last week on a similar issue, when you listen to AA Roadwatch in the morning, the N4 and the N7 are mentioned repeatedly every day. We know what that is like because it is the area we are trying to navigate through.

The expectation is that when high levels of population growth are seen, other services will follow, but that is not usually what occurs. Many transport projects were announced but not built. The railway interconnector was first suggested in the 1970s. It was part of the Dublin transportation initiative in the 1990s. Six governments later, we hear today it has been postponed to 2042. That is five governments away, assuming a government lasts five years. It is depressing. MetroLink is again delayed and no commitments to dates of delivery can be provided. Transport is the second-biggest emitter of CO2 and we have binding targets that will get much more difficult as we proceed through this decade and into the next. There appears to be a reliance on electric vehicles to reach the targets in urban and rural areas where there is not a great chance to provide large-scale public transport, albeit it should be provided in a different way.

In my constituency, DART+ is going to Kilcock, but you cannot get on it. I pointed that out last week. There is no station but there are eight railway sheds. That does not make sense. The same will be the case with the Kildare line. It is only going as far as Celbridge, but there is a big catchment of about 50,000, including Naas and the towns around it. People feel they have no option but to get in the car and that is what the Government wants to discourage.

Cities like Galway are choked with traffic. Cork cannot be the counterpoint to Dublin unless it is properly planned and there is provision of services. The same is the case in relation to suburban transport in Limerick.

It is not that there is an unwillingness by urban communities to use public transport, but they must be given the opportunity to do that through ambitious projects that can be delivered within a reasonable timeline.

In recent weeks, two carbon budgets were announced and commitments were made at COP26. If we miss our targets on transport and retrofitting, it will put increasing pressure on the agriculture sector because these areas are all interconnected. Today, the Tánaiste said the Dublin transport strategy was not approved by the Government, but most of the projects were included in the national development plan and we are seeing some of them postponed. Unless we have timelines, it is very difficult to see how we are going to meet our targets on transport. This is a very serious issue, given how transport relates to the other aspects of our climate targets.

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