Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion and I thank the Independent Group. It chimes very well with the demands regarding the environment and climate and the needs of communities to deliver sustainable transport with a particular focus on public and active travel. There is growing recognition that we need system change rather than to push on individual behaviours. We need a scale of change that we have not seen previously. This requires the institutions of the State and its agencies to get their houses in order and have the focus and energy and strategy to deliver on systemic change.

I support the proposition that Galway act as a pilot. There is much in the motion pointing towards very sensible proposals on park and ride, rail and other mobility methods. The point made by Deputy Harkin is fair. There are principles that can be applied not only in Galway but throughout the State. In our alternative proposal Sinn Féin recognises there are significant opportunities for the State to lead and apply the principle of build-it-and-they-will-come and the principle that when public transport alternatives are there for people and they are accessible, affordable and reliable, people will use them. We do not have to imagine this as a scenario. We see it here and we certainly see it internationally.

We have called on the Government to take a number of measures to realise this. In our alternative budget we called for the reduction of 20% on fares to be made permanent and to extend that to commercial bus operators. We called for a public transport fare reduction of 50% for those aged under 18 and that fares would be made free for those aged under 18 over two years. We called for the expanded roll-out of Connecting Ireland. It is a good plan from the NTA that would see improved bus services for populations of more than 300. The funding commitment is not yet there from the Government. We know the targets for the first year, which is 2022, are being missed.

We have called for an extension of the short hop zones. These are particularly relevant in the commuter belt area around Dublin. We have called for investment in the western rail corridor and the Navan rail project, extending beyond what the Government is doing in the national development plan. These two critical pieces of rail infrastructure would deliver 2.375 million sustainable journeys on an annual basis. We have called for increased investment in accessibility for people with disabilities and increased investment in the public transport accessibility retrofit programme. There is a plan and there are particular challenges with our coach network. This needs to be advanced at a pace. We have called for a dedicated public transport policing unit to ensure people can feel safe on public transport, whether they be passengers or workers. We have called for increased investment in our school bus transport scheme services and fleet. This is to ensure school bus transport would be widely available, we would not refuse thousands of children every year and the buses would be up to standard.

I want to touch on how the principles and motion might apply to my county of Meath. We need investment in the Navan rail project. I know from the response to a parliamentary question that I received this morning from the NTA that the greater Dublin area transport strategy is with the Minister. He needs to sign off so the ball can get rolling on the Navan rail project. Funding needs to be allocated to the project. If Sinn Féin were in government, the project would start now and not after 2031 as the Government intends. We need an improvement in services in County Meath. In the past 24 hours, scores of people were waiting at bus stops for the 105X, 103 and NX. This is not acceptable and it needs to be addressed.

Connecting Ireland needs to be rolled out and expanded. Of course the hot topic of the day is incentives for people when the alternatives are not there.

We have tolls in Meath, where there is a double toll on the M3. Drivers have to pay two tolls to get from Kells to Dublin. There is also a toll on the M1, which has an impact on the behaviour of drivers on that road. We have congestion every morning, which people will be familiar with if they listen to traffic reports. Kilmoon Cross is famous for traffic jams in part because traffic diverts off the M1 to avoid the toll. I call on the Minister of State to ensure the toll increases do not take effect at the start of January.

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