Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief. There are many points and issues I am sure I will have an opportunity to follow up on, including the issues of freight and our ports. Perhaps a separate debate will be needed on those matters. Public transport has been at the core of much of today's discussion. The benefits of public transport do not come in the balance sheets of Iarnród Éireann or Bus Éireann, they accrue to the democracy, in connectivity, socially and to the environment. As such, it is important that we capture those benefits. I was one of only four members of the climate committee to vote for a 2:1 ratio in spending on public transport versus roads. I did not do that because I wanted to see funding cut in other areas but because we need a radical ambition for public transport. What projects are we bringing to Europe and seeking funding on? The InvestEU Fund allows us, under the sustainable infrastructure strand, to seek funding. The western rail corridor was mentioned. It is an area where European co-funding had been available but was no longer sought, with the result that the project was not delivered. We need to see a dramatic transformation here. We should not see any rail route being shut down given the nature of the demand. Generally, when one builds it, they will come. If the demand falls, we must look at how to create different provisions at different times, for example on the Wexford route. I have other points which I will leave aside to move to my final point, which is on cycling.