Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Transport for being here tonight to answer this question. He will be familiar with the N3 route I am talking about. Unfortunately, the motorway takes a sudden stop at Whitegate and we have a truncated version of that N3 all the way to Cavan town. I am incredibly proud and supportive of the work the road section of Cavan County Council is doing to develop that into a motorway through County Cavan, as we deserve and as County Meath has all the way down from Dublin into Cavan town.

What I am here to ask the Minister of State about tonight, however, is park-and-ride facilities. I have gone to see some of the facilities that are along the N3, particularly in our neighbours in County Meath. There is a fine example of exactly what I am talking about at Garlow Cross. We are a Government that is trying to promote public transport. We are a Government that is trying to promote care for our environment and our planet. To do that, we have to provide the facilities so that people can use public transport to our capital city. As the Minister of State will be aware, there are quite a lot of commuters from Cavan travelling daily to Dublin.

Specifically, I want to highlight Whitegate with the Minister of State tonight. Whitegate is on the eastern part of the county, just before the Meath border. At present, it is chaotic, dangerous and very unsafe, both for commuters and for those trying to park and ride because there is no dedicated facility for that. It is not equipped to do it for the number of people using it. Each morning when I am driving up to the Dáil, I say to myself there will be an accident because cars are so desperate to find a space, they are parking on the bus stop, which is to facilitate people embarking on and disembarking from public transport. I would like the Minister of State to speak to that.

Cavan County Council is engaging with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, the National Transport Authority, NTA, and Bus Éireann. Feasibility studies and feasibility and option reports have been completed or are under way with those organisations to try and put in place a vision and a plan and give Cavan County Council the funding to enable it to deliver a proper park-and-ride facility that would be well utilised, I can tell the Minister of State, by people from all over the east of the county, taking in Munterconnaught, Maghera, Mullagh and Carrigabruse. At present, people are afraid to use it because it is so chaotic and dangerous.

While the Minister of State is doing that, it would be remiss of me not to take the opportunity also to highlight other danger areas such as at Lavey GAA, where people are using vacant spaces there for parking their cars. The football grounds are good. The club gives over some of its parking facilities for people to park safely, but it is a chaotic dangerous junction. If we do not get funding given to Cavan County Council to address that, an accident will happen.

The Lavey Inn is another fine example of where we could have a park-and-ride facility. Killygarry-Poles is another fine example of areas where people come to meet with the N3. The bus stop is there, the bus facilities are there but we do not have the park-and-ride facilities we really need to make it safe to encourage people using public transport.

When we are looking at that entire route, around Tractamotors, which I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with, another really dangerous junction is choking up traffic going in and out of Cavan town. Cavan County Council is working with consultants to try to address that, but I would ask the Minister of State to apply as much pressure as possible so that funding is made available to Cavan County Council to do these important works.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address this issue and discuss park-and-ride facilities. In my constituency of Dublin West that has a population including many Cavan people, I am aware from engaging with people who are commuting and have family members of the importance of this to the people in Cavan.

There are a substantial number of people in regional towns, the rural hinterland and, to a lesser extent, in the metropolitan area who do not have ease of access to high-quality public transport, either through walking or cycling. Appropriately located and designed park-and-ride facilities can enable these people to access public transport and enhance their options to reach a wide range of destinations in a sustainable manner and increase the usage of public transport, thereby maximising the value of investment in existing and new schemes. Park and ride can intercept car trips where people are reliant on a private car at an early point in their journey, thereby reducing the distances travelled by private car with a corresponding reduction in carbon emissions and congestion.

The National Transport Authority, NTA, has long recognised the importance of high-capacity park-and-ride facilities at designated public transport interchanges. It has been providing these facilities as part of ongoing investment in public transport. In line with the climate action plan, and to support the timely delivery of park-and-ride sites and a cohesive overall programme, the NTA established the park-and-ride development office in February 2020. This office provides design services to assist in the delivery of park-and-ride projects throughout the State. Plans to expand the park-and-ride network are set out in the various metropolitan area transport strategies which have been prepared by the NTA.

Caution must be exercised in the planning of park-and-ride facilities to ensure unintended consequences do not arise as a result of their provision, such as encouraging more dispersed development patterns by enabling longer distance commuting. It is the intention of the NTA, in conjunction with TII, Irish Rail, local authorities and landowners to deliver high quality major interchange facilities or mobility hubs at appropriate locations served by high-capacity public transport services. These will be designed to be as seamless as possible and will incorporate a wide range of facilities as appropriate, such as cycle parking, seating and shelter.

TII, in collaboration with Cavan County Council, is investigating the provision of enhanced parking facilities and works to improve the safety of rural bus stops on the N3, much of which the Deputy has spoken to in her contribution. This work began early this year.

There are currently three locations identified by TII and Cavan County Council. Cavan County Council has begun work to prepare feasibility and options reports for two of these locations. When that has concluded we can provide a further update on progress. The fact that we have investment and the two important delivery agencies in transport, the NTA and TII with the local authority making further progress with feasibility and option reports, will enable us to make further decisions on funding and where the best location might be. The commuter population in Cavan makes it an important place for that option as well as removing the displacement effect to which the Deputy referred in GAA clubs and elsewhere, which occurs as a consequence of the lack of a hub. That is an important context as we advance the feasibility and options reports.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the news that TII is working with Cavan County Council and that three areas or locations have been identified. I want to take this opportunity to thank Paddy Connaughton, our director of services, with whom I know the Minister of State will have worked closely, and John McKernan, our senior executive. I know they feel passionately about this. If there is money to be got, they are always front and centre in seeking it.

Whitegate is the most obvious and evident location where there is an issue. There is not even the use of a GAA park. The Lavey Inn kindly gives over parking. We have nowhere to take ground from. You see people parking in the bus stop which is really dangerous. People feel so passionately about this that they are coming out to protest on Friday. I want to make sure the Minister of State gives all the support he can to the county council that it gets the funds to deliver.

I will also take the opportunity to say I also made a submission on the rail lines. I want Cavan to be included in that. We are looking at developing the N3 from Whitegate to Cavan town. We should be ambitious enough to look at a real rail line, one that gives proper public transport all the way to Cavan town. It is maybe more than two years since I first sought a meeting with the NTA on a dangerous junction on the main street in Bailieborough. Two years on, we are still looking at a very dangerous junction. It is hostile towards pedestrians and traffic. It causes huge congestion. HGVs have to go through the town. It is an absolutely chaotic junction. I ask the Minister of State, if he can, to put some pressure on the NTA in order that it would be very forthcoming with Cavan County Council to make that junction a priority in the works for which it is providing funds to the council. It must ensure that junction is addressed sooner rather than later, or there will be a serious accident.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy’s contribution speaks to the need for wider investment in transport. From a public transport perspective, part of that is delivering greater rail and other infrastructure. The all-island rail review is the starting point for the wider vision we have on rail. To complement that, we must continue investment in roads infrastructure. We must make sure junctions and road infrastructure in towns and villages is made safer and we must promote road safety as a core part of roads investment. That is something we are seeking to prioritise.

On the progress on the different locations, I note the Deputy’s suggestions. Further work will be progressed by TII and the NTA as part of the feasibility and options report. Transport connectivity is hugely important for people who live and work in Ireland and is key to bringing life back into our villages, towns and urban centres. To encourage strong local economies and to give people real and viable alternatives to private cars, we need to provide good public transport options. We believe that expanding the public transport network and increasing service levels throughout the country in the ways set out in policies such as Connecting Ireland will lead to more balanced regional development and greater connectivity for all transport users. Park and ride can play a really important role in addressing congestion by intercepting private car trips and giving people the opportunity to use that public transport outlet in many areas. High capacity park and ride facilities are a really important part of that.

We will take on board what the Deputy has set out in the context of the park and ride facility. I note her comments on Bailieborough and will reflect that to the NTA as well as her suggestion on rail. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue this evening.