Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a priority for us. At the moment, the six infrastructure officer teams in An Taisce Green Schools are currently working on stage 4 of this process. That is the communication and liaison interventions. The infrastructure officers have now met the majority of round 1 schools to discuss the situation outside those schools, any new information on school locations etc. and possible solutions. In addition, the work that has been undertaken includes a survey of all the schools, parental surveys, front of school audits and walking and cycling audits that are being carried out to assess the existing pedestrian and cycling infrastructure within 500 m of a school. This information is going to inform the process so it is being captured as well. Speed surveys are also being carried out to assess the existing speed outside schools. This data will then help inform the delivery plans and further engage with the school population. The NTA and safe routes to school teams have produced a draft safe routes to school design guide to assist the local authorities to provide the technical guidance.

The infrastructure officers are holding weekly meetings with the active travel engineers to update on the safe routes to school programme in Limerick. There are on-site visits to schools, except for Scoil Íde and St. Munchin's College, with executive engineers to discuss the possible measures. Tipperary is holding its discussions. It has weekly meetings in relation to schools in Clonmel. With the roll-out of the resources to the local authorities, we will be monitoring this to ensure these 170 are progressed as quickly as possible. Part of that was to give them the staffing that many of them said they did not have.

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