Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I do not think that it will come as a surprise to anyone that the 2022 OECD report has found that our current mobility patterns, that is, the movement of goods and people, are incompatible with our greenhouse gas emission targets. The report quite correctly pours cold water on any notion that simply converting to electric vehicles, EVs, will achieve the necessary reduction in admissions; it will not. Even if all vehicles on our roads were electrically powered, there would be trade-offs. There would be a huge increase in demand for electricity, which would make the target of meeting our electricity needs from sustainable environmentally friendly sources much more difficult. Vehicle batteries require lithium. Mining for lithium is water-intensive and contributes to air, soil and water pollution. It is also a key factor in armed conflicts in central Africa.

I understand that the Minister will reduce the target of 1 million EVs, which was never going to be reached anyway. They are simply unaffordable for the vast majority of people. What is needed, as the OECD report states, is a transformation in the mindset as to how we plan for where people live, how they get to work, school, shopping, essential services and social activities and how the goods they need are transported. Above all, we need an end to the dependence on private cars. Three out of every four people in Ireland today use a car for their transport needs, often travelling alone.

The statistics speak for themselves. The transport sector has seen the fastest growth in emissions over any other sector in the past 50 years. It relies on oil for 92% of its energy use and is responsible for 42% of energy-related CO2 emissions. Car dependency has been facilitated by successive Governments closing down rail lines and train stations, extremely low investment in public transport and low subsidies where transport actually exists. The situation needs to be urgently transformed. In 2021, both public and private bus and coach transport accounted for only 3% of journeys and rail was less than 1%. Public transport should be free to provide a real incentive to get people out of their cars.

Free public transport is also needed for those who cannot afford a car.

Alongside making public transport free, we need investment by the State on a serious scale to have a fully connected intermodal public transport system. Free public transport is not an incentive if it does not exist where you live. A fully connected intermodal system means buses, light rail, safe walking, safe cycling and other slow transport modes. It would connect rural areas to main towns and vice versa. It needs to meet local needs, which means real communication with local communities, not the top-down pretence of consultation we saw with BusConnects, which is commonly referred to in Dublin as "BusDisconnects". Closed train lines and stations should be brought back into use. The new public transport system needs to use only sustainable fuels. This means 100% electric or green hydrogen for buses, coaches, rail and light rail. Taxi services should be made electric within a certain framework and plan, with assistance in the form of grants. We need to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of fossil fuel heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, in the movement of goods and we should plan for a series of cargo hubs serviced by rail to reduce road use. There is a need for a national plan for the movement of goods, involving consultation with stakeholders.

Our spatial planning system needs a transformative overhaul. We need to end urban sprawl in our cities and long journeys from commuter belts to work or to avail of essential services. We need a national plan for economic growth at regional levels. To increase the numbers living and working in towns, we need to encourage people in rural areas to live in larger villages with good access to public transport for work and essential services like schools. Such a transformation of our transport system is a tall order but these transformative changes in the way our economies and societies function are necessary if we are to have any hope of reducing, let alone eliminating, the drastic consequences of climate change. In this debate we are dealing with transport but a transformative approach to transport to reduce dependency on private cars and elevate public transport has to be part of an overall transformative movement. This will not come from the likes of COP27, which is yet another failure to deal with the issues. Greenwashing and fiddling about the edges is a road to disaster. We have to end the endless pursuit of growth on a planet with finite resources to simply satisfy the need or greed for profit of the 1%. We must move to a system of a democratic planning to use these resources for the needs of the people. Such a movement will only come from below.

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