Anthony Lawlor (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I hope he will be able to visit Kildare for the official opening of the Sallins bypass, a project about which I spoke to a couple of his predecessors, namely, the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe. I would be delighted to welcome the Minister, Deputy Ross, to the opening of the bypass. It will almost coincide with the recent opening of three additional lanes on the old Naas bypass.

I agree with Senator Murnane O'Connor in respect of carpooling. Those of us of a certain vintage will remember the case of Boston. A lane into Boston was designated specifically for carpoolers. It would be easy to take such a measure. Carpool lanes need to be combined with bus lanes, which both carpoolers and buses could use. The facilities are there but the problem is the NTA cannot envisage anything else but cars on the road. Its public transport remit has fallen down in this regard. I have spoken and written to it on a number of occasions, identifying potential park-and-ride areas such as lands that adjoin interchanges, which could easily be turned into park-and-ride facilities. The agency has indicated to me that providing a park-and-ride facility would be a waste of time because it is quicker to go to Dublin by car than by bus. Such a response should not come from the NTA. It should encourage more people to take public transport. I hope that when the plans are drawn up for the N4, to widen the Maynooth road, it will encompass a bus lane that can be used for carpoolers. It has been done in Belfast, where there is a lane on the N1, which goes into the city.

I turn to the issue of traffic into Dublin in the morning. Everyone complained about the N7 before the third lane was opened, and now it is almost like a car park. It requires just one person to brake and, suddenly, there will be a concertina effect all the way down the road. The Minister might communicate with the NTA in respect of the introduction of speed restrictions - perhaps 80 km/h - at certain times, such as peak traffic times in the morning. It would reduce the level of congestion that occurs on the N7 and N4. I hope there will be further planning for a new train station in Sallins. The train station is currently located in the middle of the village but there are parking restrictions, leading to people parking in the housing estates around the station.The development of a new train station with a large car parking facility would be beneficial, particularly with electrification to Hazelhatch and the possibility of development further to Kildare.

I welcome last week's announcement on the sports capital process. Many clubs were extremely pleased with the funding, although some were disappointed. Can we get an indication on when clubs can access the reasons they failed? I have looked at the points system but how is it worked out, calculated or broken down? When is the Minister expecting to announce the regional sports grants? I will do a plug for Kildare GAA. Now we have a Kerry man looking after us on the management side, we could do with the facilities at St. Conleth's Park in Newbridge. The organisation has the matching funding that would be required, were the Minister willing to support this, and it has planning permission as well.