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

Unlike others who have spoken before me, I will speak to the topic, which is the sustainable mobility policy. At the outset, I welcome the proposal from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to establish and accelerate pathfinder projects.

I will speak with respect to my own city and constituency of Limerick and the mid-west region. Before and since entering government, the Minister, I and the Green Party have persuaded many stakeholders of the vision for Limerick and the mid-west of a growing, thriving, sustainable, European region that will not only provide employment opportunities for those who come from the region but which will also provide opportunities for employment, a high-quality life and quality jobs to people from across Europe and the world. We want them to come to Limerick and the mid-west to live an enjoyable, healthy and rewarding life.

This vision we sold to the people of the mid-west is underpinned by the national development plan. To achieve it, we must get planning and development right. We cannot cherry-pick from this plan. We must aggressively pursue it. Limerick will grow and the question is how that will happen, how much will it grow and how quickly. The path to fastest and best growth is to plan future development around the four rail lines that intersect at Limerick city.

We talk about transit-oriented development, which is the idea that large medium- to high-density residential, commercial and employment projects should be built on a small footprint on or near a transport node such as a train station. It is imperative that we not only provide high density but we also provide high-quality developments where people want to live. The Limerick plan is to develop a network of new stations at Ballysimon, Parkway shopping centre, Moyross, Lisnagry, Patrickswell, Adare and so on. Raheen industrial estate, for example, has 6,000 workers. I have spoken with the leaders of various industries who are very keen for a train station at Raheen industrial estate. It is critical that the LSMATS is aligned with this vision and that we look at the national planing framework to see if it is also aligned with the vision. It is also critical that the city and county development plans of both Limerick and Clare are aligned with that vision and that we get the zoning around these transport zones correct and appropriate.

It would be remiss of me not to mention, during statements on transport, the remarkable Ms Dervla Murphy, from Lismore in the Acting Chairman's county of Waterford, who passed away recently. She was a fearless, intrepid explorer who was fiercely dedicated to her mode of transport of choice, that is, the bicycle. She inspired generations to travel and to enjoy getting off the beaten track. She understood the value of spending time with local people, getting a true sense of place and she conveyed that experience to many of us through her honest and frank writing. She took the road less travelled and that made all the difference.

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