Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which to my mind has two fundamental aspects. The first is education and awareness, as suggested by the Deputy, and the second is improvements on the ground around schools. I am glad that good progress has been made in regard to both aspects.

The Deputy will probably be aware of the Your Journey Counts campaign, which is a multi-platform integrated advertising campaign across TV, radio, print, out-of-home, digital and social advertising. While not directed solely at school journeys, this national campaign highlights the benefits of active and sustainable travel options related to reducing Ireland's transport emissions in line with climate action plan targets, as well as significant Government investment in these options. The campaign forms part of our wider public engagement and communications strategy, as referenced in both the action plan for the sustainable mobility policy and the climate action plan. This strategy will include a multifaceted approach, incorporating among other things, developing, implementing and evaluating a range of pilot public engagement initiatives and associated studies across a range of areas, including education. Highlighting issues relating to idling at school gates can certainly be looked at as part of this strategy.

In terms of improvements on the ground around schools, the Deputy has mentioned the Safe Routes to School programme. This programme is improving the school environment through interventions such as school zones, which aim to create a safe protected area outside the school gate where children are prioritised. They use identifiable design features, such as pencil-shaped bollards and colourful road markings to highlight the presence of the school and encourage traffic to slow down in the school zone area, prevent parking on footpaths and encourage drivers to make legal and safe drop-offs outside of the school zone area and thus reduce the potential for school-gate idling as referred to by the Deputy.

See this speech in context