Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement last week by the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, of a €50 million allocation for rural infrastructure for cycling and walking. This is the first time in the history of the State a Minister for Transport has thought to allocate money specifically for rural infrastructure of this kind. As somebody who has worked on modal shift and sustainable transport promotion in rural Ireland for 14 years, this gives me hope. It means the estates that have no footpaths, the schools around which there are high speed limits and the children who have nowhere to walk or cycle safely, might finally have those issues addressed. The funding is specifically for rural counties, which is great. To date, very little funding has been provided for this type of work and so there has been very little joined-up thinking. The result has been scraps of infrastructure such as a cycle lane ending at a footpath and so on, leaving people to wonder if they were supposed to pick up the bicycle and put it in their pockets at that point.

One of the most important aspects of this funding stream for local authorities is that there will be an active travel network strategy. It will no longer be acceptable to do bits and pieces of work on a cycle lane, which no child could ever use safely, or to leave footpaths without dishing, which is the dip in the paths that enables people with buggies and wheelchairs to access them. This type of work has been acceptable in rural Ireland for too long. Now that the funding is in place, all of us in the House can engage with our local authorities on putting in place the infrastructure to link up villages and towns and to give people in rural Ireland options around walking and cycling safely, be that from estate to estate where there is permeability or outside schools. Our children spend a great deal of their time in schools. We have the highest rates of air pollution and safety issues at school gates. It is appalling. Now that there is €50 million at the disposal of local authorities, there is no excuse for them not to prioritise people with disabilities, children and people who want to choose modes of transport other than the private car. The local authorities now have the choice to do things right and to make sure they have in place a strategy that works for people of every age and ability.