Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with both Deputies. There is nothing restricting us from carrying out projects outside of this scheme. I think of examples in my constituency of Dublin Bay South. There was a brilliant scheme, presented, as it happens, by a Fine Gael councillor with the support of my Green Party colleagues, to develop a quiet route to link up most of the schools in the suburbs around Ranelagh, Rathmines, Rathgar and down to Sandymount. Unfortunately, it died. It would not have incurred very significant costs. It mainly just involved designating certain roads as quiet roads. It would have been transformative but there was not the political will required in the council to get it over the line. It would not have cost much but it would have been of great benefit as a safe routes to school project.

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan has put down a question about a similar issue regarding a school in Leap in County Cork that is on a national road. There is an immediate issue there and we cannot wait on a safe routes to school programme to address it. I agree with both Deputies. I have a certain sense of frustration. Only 170 schools out of more than 4,000 are included in the scheme. We need to look at ways to progress through other budgets, including those for the roads programme and local authorities. It is very much an issue for local authorities to consider, as part of their cycling and active transport networks, BusConnects routes and so on, how they can benefit safe routes to school. This should not be the only programme involved because the scale of it is not sufficient to address the urgent need presented on its own.

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