Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

What specific action does the Government propose to take to address the key points made in yesterday's OECD and Climate Change Advisory Council report on the Irish transport system? The report showed the need for the Government to prioritise policies to reallocate road space from private cars to ensure that walking and cycling are better accommodated. I ask this knowing that although the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, outlined that he would be launching certain pathfinder projects over the coming weeks, we saw no new initiatives for cycling in particular in the budget. That was really disappointing. The Labour Party has proposed a cycle-to-school scheme, which we have proposed for some years now, where the Government would subsidise the cost of bikes for children in the same way that we have seen the very successful bike-to-work scheme operate. We also called for an old car scrappage scheme where cars over ten years old could be exchanged, essentially subsidised for exchange, for e-bikes or cargo bikes instead to try to encourage to a far greater extent the reallocation of road space for cyclists. We saw no new initiatives for cycling from the Government in the budget. That was really disappointing, particularly in light of yesterday's report.

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