Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank colleagues in Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. I will keep my contribution short.

We are having this debate in the context of a conversation about carbon emissions and climate change. We are in the midst of a necessarily modal shift. Some 60% of greenhouse has emissions relate to passenger cars. When I hear interesting figures to the effect that 250,000 tests were carried out last year, that is welcome from the perspective of Kildare North. However, it indicates that there is more traffic congestion. We need to look at this in the round. That is important.

In Ireland, the culture of car dependency is rooted in the idea that our public transport network fails to meet our needs. There is ample research on the reasons we rely on cars. Those reasons relate to the independence, autonomy and flexibility associated with being able to move as and when we deem fit, whether for work or for education. Notwithstanding the idea that there will always be a cohort of people who require to drive in order to get to work and other places, we should not ignore the fact that what we need to do - and what the Government needs to really accelerate its action in respect of - is embrace the idea of a public transport network for the State that is efficient and fit for purpose. I am particularly drawn to the idea of successive Governments making a mess of Metrolink. The Dart+ schemes are leaving low-hanging fruit behind. We have buses continuously running at capacity, yet bus routes are being cancelled because they are not financially viable. In tandem with the meritable idea of lowering the waiting lists for driving tests, we should also see maximum investment and attention given to boosting our public transport system. When we do those things in tandem, we will see real success.

In County Kildare, we have one test centre. We have one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in the country. I guarantee that even if we double the staff cohort in Kildare, we will still see a significant increase in the waiting time of six months. I encourage those in the RSA who are charged with making decisions to focus on Kildare. In light of our fast-growing population, our need will continue to grow when it comes to reducing waiting times. My colleague Deputy Whitmore put an interesting proposition forward whereby if a person has been waiting ten weeks for a test, he or she should receive a Leap Card with €100 on it to cover the cost of public transport in Ireland while he or she waits for that test. This would be an incentive for people in Kildare who are waiting six months for tests.

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