Dáil debates

Wednesday, 28 June 2017

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions

Greenways Provision

4:25 pm

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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26. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the introduction of six proposed greenways, namely. the Liffey, Santry, Bray to Balbriggan, Clontarf to city centre, River Dodder and canal loop routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30397/17]

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Our transport emissions are rising. The most recent CSO figures show that Dublin continues, despite all our efforts, towards an unsustainable transport system. Road deaths of cyclists have doubled over the past year. In the 2018 budget, will the Minister invest in and deliver by the end of 2020 the Liffey, Santry, Bray to Balbriggan, Clontarf to city centre, River Dodder and canal greenway loops? These are all currently in design or planning stages. Given the huge benefits they would bring to the city, will the Minister afford them priority and give a commitment to deliver them?

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. It is an important one and I know it is of particular importance to him in the area in which he operates in Dublin.

The National Transport Authority, NTA, is responsible for the development of public transport and sustainable transport infrastructure projects in the greater Dublin area, GDA.  The six cycle schemes identified by the Deputy form part of the greenway network of the GDA cycle network plan, which was published by the NTA in 2014.

Work is currently ongoing on a number of elements of those schemes by means of funding provided from my Department's sustainable transport measures grants programme. Sections of the Royal Canal greenway are under construction at present.  A section of the east coast trail through Clontarf, also known as the Sutton to Sandycove scheme and referred to by the Deputy in his question as the Bray to Balbriggan scheme, opened to the public last month. Design work is ongoing on the Liffey cycle route and a number of possible schemes relating to its implementation have been discussed by Dublin City Council.

The NTA recently launched the BusConnects project which proposes a radical transformation of the bus system in the greater Dublin area.  The BusConnects project has, as a key component, the implementation of safe cycling facilities along the main bus corridors proposed for improvement which will form the core bus network.  As part of that project, it is intended that cyclists will be provided with safe cycling facilities along each of these core bus network corridors, largely segregated from other vehicular traffic.  Delivering those routes to completion will represent an unprecedented uplift in the quality of cycling facilities in Dublin.

A number of the listed greenways will be progressed in tandem with the larger upgrading being implemented through the BusConnects project. The individual schemes and sections of routes to be progressed each year will be determined by the NTA in line with available funding. As the Deputy is aware, a mid-term review of the capital plan is under way and I am seeking additional funding for public transport and other sustainable modes in that context.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, was at the national economic dialogue today where he said that the entire Government will have to shift its thinking to act on climate. Will the Minister go to him with these six projects? There is a whole range of different things we could do, but these six greenways would give rise to huge benefits. The Liffey route would be 6 km long between the Phoenix Park and the port. If we got the same increase in capacity that we saw with the canal network, we would have a 50% increase in the numbers cycling and that then would be the dominant mode of transport on the quays and would bring about huge transport benefits.

If we invested a relatively small amount of money in the Santry greenway, we would, using existing parkland resources, connect schools, sports facilities and workplaces. The same applies in respect of the other greenways. These are incredible connecting devices. If we built the Sutton to Sandycove route, which I would extend to Bray and Balbriggan because I think the people of those towns deserve it, that coastal route would be an incredible leisure as well as commuting facility. It would be a huge tourist draw for this city.

These are facilities that benefit those who walk and cycle. We concentrate on the greenways because, more than anything else, they would see Dublin develop as a green city, using the incredible resources that we have, namely, our coast, canals and rivers. Will the Minister prioritise this? Will he go to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and ask for the money for this particular project? At the moment, for all the good talk, there is no money to do it in the timeframe and with the urgency required. Will the Minister push that as a package in the revised capital plan?

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Let me just say that the Deputy is not the only person in this House who has a passion for greenways.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I know.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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This kind of monopoly which he claims on greenways, particularly in the Dublin area, does not exist.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Minister could support them.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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There are people with real passion for greenways in this House, all of whom have as good a case as the Deputy for their greenways, some of which cannot be done or provided for.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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What can-----

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Let me answer the Deputy's question. I ask him not to interrupt.

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister, without interruption.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I did not interrupt the Deputy and I have no intention of interrupting doing so. I never interrupt regardless of whether he is in full flow or not.

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Minister, through the Chair please.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Let me say this to the Deputy about these greenways. On the Grand Canal cycleway from Blackhorse to Portobello, an allocation of €60,000 has been provided to Dublin City Council this year in order to complete the preliminary design necessary to progress the scheme to Part 8 planning approval. On the Dodder greenway, an allocation of €500,000 has been provided to Dublin City Council to develop and progress sections of the route. Part 8 planning approval for the Dodder flood alleviation works between Herbert Park and Anglesea Bridge, with which the Deputy will be familiar, is expected in the third quarter of this year, with detailed design, tender preparation and construction to follow.

Dublin City Council has commenced feasibility and preliminary design work on a section of the route located to the rear of Milltown golf club between Orwell Road and Churchtown, with which both I and the Deputy are familiar. I will deal with the Royal Canal later.

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Eamon Ryan has a final supplementary question.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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No one has a monopoly on the benefits of greenways. Everyone can see those benefits. They are seen in different parts of the country. We need them everywhere. There is an opportunity, urgency and requirement to transform and improve our city in order to save lives and improve emissions reductions, commuting times and leisure facilities and for us to really make a bold statement. To do that, funding allocations need to go beyond €60,000 here and €500,000 there. This needs to be packaged into one big capital project whereby we get high-quality design, certainty around speed of delivery and a real public and international win. People would see our capital start to become a model green city.

I am not saying that we have a monopoly on that. However, I am saying that the Minister has the opportunity and, I believe, the responsibility, particularly as a Deputy representing some of the areas that would benefit from it, to grasp this opportunity to put them together and to show leadership and say that we will do it. I will thank the Minister and commend him just as much as anyone else. However, I do not want to see a continuation of the current system whereby bits and bobs of work are carried out here and there but there is no real clear commitment or big-bang approach. The latter is something which I believe we need. If we did that, it would transform our city and it would transform cycling. It is time to do it. There are many other actions we need to take but this project would shift the entire debate and the sense of where the city is going, which is why I am passionate about it.

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Níor chuala mé ceist ar bith.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I would like to thank the Deputy in advance for his thanks, which obviously will be coming. It will be a new feeling and a great feeling of warmth.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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There will be lots of love.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I anticipate it with great glee. However, I cannot promise that any particular greenway will get preference at the expense of others. I sympathise with the Deputy and support what he says. Of course I do, and he knows I do, but he knows full well that there are massive financial constraints as well. There will not be any special pleading for my constituency, which the Deputy mentioned, or anyone else's, including the Deputy's, because we have preferences for that.

In recent days we have done a great deal of work in meetings we have had on cycling. We acknowledge the need for greenways and safety in cycling and we are taking action, as a matter of great urgency, on the deaths in cycling. We recognise these things.

It is a good thing that Deputy Ryan makes those pleadings but he should not accuse us of not being sympathetic or supportive of what he is doing as we work within the constraints imposed upon us.

4:35 pm

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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May I make a brief supplementary point?

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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No. If I let Deputy Ryan in, I have to let everyone else in. Everyone is concerned about greenways in every part of the country and would like to see them developed.