John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for selecting this and I thank the Minister of State for being in attendance to take the issue. The Minister of State and I have often spoken about this. We both know that the public wants to play its part in mitigating climate change. Everyone wants to help sustain a planet that can sustain our children and grandchildren and future generations. The more people are included and involved in projects by the Government and by local government that help to create an environment like that, the more positive and included they feel. Generally, this will make them better disposed towards the projects that we are trying to bring in.

The Tallaght to Oldbawn active travel scheme is a case study in how not to proceed and how not to win public approval for a measure that the Government and local government want to bring in. It involves the active travel scheme along a road called FIrhouse Road West and Killinarden Way and it runs from the N81, which is the Tallaght bypass, to the Oldbawn Road. However, it is also part of a larger route that potentially connects the N81 at Tallaght to Dundrum town centre, almost 10 miles away. This is an orbital corridor that provides huge scope and potential for a bus corridor along with the active travel links that are being proposed. The active travel scheme is anything involving cycling or walking that displaces people from cars. This measure certainly will not encourage people to take public transport.

One of the issues here, among many, was the manner in which the public consultation took place or rather, did not take place. I tabled a parliamentary question to the senior Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who said in his response that he had responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to active travel schemes. The scheme was advertised and consultation was done on it under section 38 of the Road Traffic Act. I said at a meeting recently that I would have encouraged the council to have undertaken a full Part 8 public consultation. As someone said at a public meeting recently, the advertisement for the scheme went up on signs attached to lamp posts and there was some newspaper advertising. However, this is a radical intrusion, to some degree, in people's lives. It is a radical change to the road layout in the area and it is only a part of the jigsaw of road layout changes that are proposed. As someone said at a public meeting, if this was Eir or Virgin, everyone would get an individual letter telling them what was coming down the line and at least giving them some visual idea of the impact that it was going to have on them.

What we have seen, in some parts of south Dublin and parts of my constituency, are individual cycle tracks on both sides of the road. Then in other schemes there are two-way cycle tracks on one side of the road. That is what has happened here. One of my issues with it is that if we want people to abandon cars, we have to create safe cycleways and pedestrian ways. This is one of the most significant flaws in the scheme. We also need to offer public transport as a real option to people. The idea of a bus corridor that could potentially go from Tallaght to Dundrum has been done away with now because of the way this road has been laid out. There is simply no way of putting a bus corridor on both sides of this road. There is actually a bus corridor from Ballyboden to Dundrum, so half of it is there. That is the first layout, I just want to set out the stall in this regard. This was not the way to do it. A Part 8 full public consultation is the way to go.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and I acknowledge his local experience and feedback relating the active travel scheme. The Department of Transport has responsibility for the provision of funding and setting of policy in relation to transport issues, including active travel. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has responsibility for the allocation of funding to projects at local authority level and works with the local authorities to ensure delivery of same.

The Deputy will be aware that a significant increase in funding has been allocated to walking and cycling infrastructure projects in recent years, following a commitment of approximately €360 million per annum in the programme for Government.

The NTA’s active travel programme receives most of this funding each year, with around €290 million allocated through that agency across all local authorities in 2023. Of the 2023 funding, South Dublin County Council received an allocation of just over €22 million. One of the projects funded through this allocation is the Dublin 24 neighbourhood cycle network, which aims to rapidly deliver approximately 11 km of protected cycle facilities that will fill in the gaps in the existing cycle network and provide direct links to twelve schools, parks, sports clubs and local amenities.

This project is a two-phase scheme. Phase 1 including Killinarden Heights, Killinarden Way, Whitestown Way, Kiltipper Way and Firhouse Road West. It is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in the middle of next year.

Phase 2, encompassing Killininny Road, Ballycullen Road, Ballycullen Drive and Ballycullen Avenue, is expected to commence early next year. Speed surveys carried out prior to the commencement of these works showed that just under 20% of vehicles were travelling in excess of the speed limit, which is obviously undesirable in built-up areas with a number of schools on the route. The project is one of the Department's 35 pathfinder projects. These aim to reduce emissions from transport by enabling the shift to cleaner transport choices. The programme seeks to increase delivery and momentum at local level by providing exemplar templates that can be replicated and scaled up elsewhere.

The majority of roads in the Dublin 24 neighbourhood cycle network are part of the Cycle South Dublin programme, a blueprint for the delivery of 260 km of new and enhanced active travel routes across 65 projects. The network is being implemented under section 38 of the Road Traffic Act 1994. I am informed that three briefings were delivered to South Dublin county councillors and, although not obligatory, a public consultation took place in late 2022. The 26 submissions received during this process were taken into consideration as part of the design process.

I have been informed that South Dublin County Council is considering amendments to facilitate feedback. I also have been informed that the network complies with the current design manual for urban roads and streets around road space reallocation.

As part of active travel projects and if pathfinder projects are going to be exemplars for the future, in the context of bringing people in communities with us, then it is important that there be strengthened engagement with local communities. I will certainly reflect the feedback Deputy Lahart has given me to the National Transport Authority. This is important in the context of other projects. We were both involved, at different points, in the BusConnects public consultation, which has taken a significant length of time to evolve from the original proposal to what we have now. If there had been more of a middle ground from the beginning, then I believe we would have seen progress being made sooner. It is important, though, that there is community buy-in. South Dublin County Council has said it is considering amendments to facilitate the feedback from the local community. I will certainly reflect the wider concern that Deputy Lahart has about this local engagement, which is of fundamental importance to drive active travel across communities.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. Stakeholder buy-in is critical. Who are these stakeholders? Obviously, these include the local people who live in the area and use the roads. I refer in particular to parents, who are under pressure in the mornings. One of the things that happened was that school drop-off points were eliminated. Those school drop-off points that had been there were lost as a result of the construction of the cycle track. Public representatives, including Deputies and councillors, are also stakeholders. The Minister of State said that councillors were briefed on several occasions on this project. The impression I get, though, is that the visuals they were given were not impactful and did not give the councillors, or some of the local community organisations contacted, the required information. I am not being critical. I offer this observation in the spirit of acknowledging that we need to do things better. I say this because I have cycled and walked this route and I am very supportive of active travel. Returning to the point regarding Deputies and councillors and other stakeholders, we need better visuals.

I was at a transport forum meeting last week in Tallaght. The bus drivers said they were not consulted about two buses driving side by side along this road. They told me that even though it is mathematically possible in terms of the road width, overhanging trees mean that a bus has to lean out a little further onto the road, which means eating up some road space. In fairness, South Dublin County Council engineers said they will accompany drivers on a bus along the route. The NTA and bus companies were consulted, but the bus drivers who drive the routes were not consulted.

Turning to pinch points at particular junctions, advantages for public transport should be considered. They should just be an essential part of this context. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in his response to a parliamentary question from me, stated he is "considering proposals to strengthen the public consultation requirements in accordance with Section 38 of the Road Traffic Act 1994". Additionally, he said that his "Department is working with local authorities in order to create an environment whereby there will be greater levels of community engagement". It is not too late on this project. I encourage the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to talk to representatives of South Dublin County Council and the NTA to see what can be done in relation to the Tallaght to Oldbawn cycle track even now, because it is not even near completion, and this would certainly result in buy-in from the local community.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I call the Minister of State to reply within the time remaining.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | 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.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State.