Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Every day I come here, I leave Carlow town and I pass slip roads to the motorway. These are chock-a-block with vans and cars that are left for the day while their owners carpool to go to work. I recently heard that the other day they had been fined for parking there. This was not done by Carlow local authority but our neighbouring one. We have no park-and-ride facilities in Carlow. These workers who get up early are being environmentally friendly in their decision to carpool. The more people who are encouraged to carpool, the fewer the number of cars that will be on the road. This will mean less traffic for everyone and reduced carbon emissions. I am urgently calling for funding to be provided to Carlow County Council for a park-and-ride system in north and south Carlow. We are rural Ireland. While I welcome all the cycle lanes and the bollards that are being put in place, we need park-and-ride facilities in rural Ireland to make sure we look after the people who go to work.

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