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

I thank the Minister for his answer. This question was originally sent to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage but it was referred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, who is obviously referring the issue back to the Minister with responsibility for housing.

I believe there is a role for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in this area, particularly with regard to the active travel allocation. The €1.8 billion over five years, €360 million per annum, is a key achievement of this Government and a key commitment in the programme for Government. We must ensure this money is spent well and I believe that responsibility falls to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

The point about flexibility is that we get the right people into these roles. What we need fundamentally in the roles are multidisciplinary teams. There is a tendency in the Irish system to put in engineers. I am an engineer and I do not want to diminish the profession in any way. Many engineers are ably qualified, of course, but we need multidisciplinary teams representing transport planning, urban planning, urban design, landscape architecture, community engagement, public health and so on in our local authorities to drive the town centre first initiative and the active travel roll-out.

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