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

I will try. I thank Deputy Lahart and I hear what he is saying clearly. Feedback from local communities and stakeholder engagement is of fundamental importance to get community buy-in, with public representatives here in the Oireachtas, councillors and the wider public. I will reflect this in the context of the wider active travel programme we are seeking to roll out.

I have responsibility for the safe routes to schools programme. There are possibilities across communities to try to encourage opportunities for active travel and for people to switch from the use of vehicles to active travel options in cases where people are living in close proximity to schools. Based on the feedback the Deputy has given me, the design process needs strengthened engagement. As I said, I will certainly reflect this point to officials in my Department, in the active travel and public transport unit, and to the NTA in the context of how we can build momentum on these pathfinder projects. We want to enable the shift to cleaner transport options. If this undertaking is caught up in disputes, delays and concerns, however, this will undermine our wider investment programme, about which we are ambitious. A key part of this is building stakeholder momentum and a collective push in this regard, which I think most people are on board with. I appreciate the points made by the Deputy and I will certainly reflect them in the Department and with the NTA. I appreciate the Deputy raising this subject today.

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