Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I fully support this Private Members' motion. I pay tribute to Deputy Connolly, who drafted and presented it. Galway needs to be the test case for carrying out a model of transport that is different and where alternatives to the car are modelled and looked at. It is interesting that the OECD report, Redesigning Ireland’s Transport for Net Zero: Towards Systems that Work for the People and Planet, states:

Ireland's national transport models project continued growth in car ownership based on income and demographic projections, and car occupancy is assumed to be constant in standard transport model runs. Alternative futures for car ownership and car occupancy are simply absent from standard transport modelling.

This is saying that there is a refusal on behalf of planners and the Government even to consider alternative models that might give a better outcome. At the very least, we cannot really say that they will lead to better outcomes because we have not looked at them. We are faced with a complete lack of vision and a failure to see anything other than a totally car-dependent culture. The report states that with three out of four citizens opting to travel by car on a daily basis, current mobility patterns in Ireland are incompatible with the country’s greenhouse gas emissions targets. This is a fairly damning statement about our ambition to be successful. It states that growing car use in Ireland is largely determined by car-dependent transport. It suggests that decarbonising the system via private vehicle improvements is unlikely to lead to substantially different patterns of behaviour, rapid emissions improvements and large well-being improvements. What all that is saying is that currently we are about tweaking car use and not really making the substantive change that is required. One of the key messages in the report is that policy change is not and should not be restricted to urban areas. We need to have change for all of Ireland and that means the north west, and Donegal in particular, as well.

During a recent Private Members' debate, we spoke about public transport requirements for rural areas. We should also be looking at the provision of rail for the north west and Donegal in order to move people away from ongoing car development. The West on Track and Into the West campaigns believe this can be done. The Into the West campaign looks at restoring the north-west rail corridor, which would bring a rail connection to Dungannon, Omagh, Strabane, Lifford and Letterkenny. This proposal makes sense because it could reduce travel times to Dublin and also reduce carbon emissions, which would be a win-win for all concerned. According to the West on Track campaign, a rail link for Ballyshannon, Donegal town and Ballybofey into Letterkenny could be provided as well. If this were done, a person heading to Dublin from Gweedore, Killybegs or Fanad could get a bus to Letterkenny or Donegal town and then a train to Dublin and be there just as quickly as they would if they were driving. It should not be unachievable. It can be done if we decide we want to do it. If the Department or the Government were using modelling systems that took it into account, maybe it would not be unaffordable, or shown to be unaffordable in order that it can be rubbished straight away.

The climate action plan says that in order to achieve our national climate objective, planning policy must work to reduce demand for travel by car, travel distances and journey times. It does not say that in order to achieve the climate action goals, we should not travel at all. We should travel smarter and, as I see it, that means by rail. Some 92% of members of the Citizens' Assembly that examined this issue recommended that the State should prioritise the expansion of public transport over new road infrastructure at a ratio of no less than 2:1 in order to facilitate broader availability and uptake of public transport options, with special attention to rural areas. This motion calls on the Government to "develop a transformative new vision for transport that will align with Ireland's transport emissions reduction targets, provide sustainable, accessible public transport and urgently reduce car dependency". How can this be achieved when, as the OECD said, "alternative futures for car ownership and car occupancy are simply absent from standard national transport modelling". To me, that says it all about our transport ambitions and, sadly, about the ambitions of our Government, apart maybe from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. What about the permanent government, which seems to make all the decisions about what is achievable? I believe that if we do not aim high, we can never achieve. By adopting and implementing this motion, this Government will be able to start thinking bigger, aiming higher and achieving more.

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