Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This is a chance for such places to be revived. Senator McDowell seemed to indicate that perhaps people do not want to live in villages or towns. I would ask the Senator to rethink this because there is huge benefit in being able to live within walking distance of one's local pub, school or church. The villages and towns we have throughout the country, including the 19th century market towns in particular, have incredible architecture and are underused. We have a lot of gaps and boarded-up high street premises.There is a real question as we rethink this. Do we let them just fall down and let the villages and towns go or do we bring life back into them to create these really vibrant, thriving, rural-urban communities? I argue the latter would work best for a variety of reasons. There would be a great sense of community, better use of existing resources, lower carbon and one could go for a drink at night without having to worry about being breathalysed on the way home. I could go on. It is a fundamental question. Right across the country we are still not building in the centre.

I can put it another way. Cork County Council is an example of this being done very well and better than other counties. Sometimes I think it is because it has the scale, architects and planners and it really thought about it. Perhaps I am biased because of my roots in Cork but we can look at the likes of Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Bantry - I could go on - where there is a concentration on the quality of the town and village that is seeing a revival. It is bringing real success and it is where people want to go. I absolutely take the Senator's point about rethinking and I am always open to new thinking. There is a particular opportunity and the Government policy is to put town centre first. I stand up for that and I am happy to debate it at length.

There was a range of other contributions, including from Senators Cummins and Ahearn. I will meet the representatives from Tipperary. Again going back to my roots, I met a group from Tipperary town, which is close to my Ryan roots. That was not a matter of disrespect to others along the route. I said in the Dáil yesterday I am very happy to meet Oireachtas and council representatives about the N24.

Senator Dooley asked about the scooter legislation, which is due to be introduced as part of a miscellaneous provisions Bill. It will first be published and get to pre-legislative scrutiny. We know our committees are clogged but subject to that being done, it will come to the House and be a useful contribution. Senator McGahon indicated that innovative projects like bike-sharing schemes might not just apply to cities and this supports my comments about town centre first thinking being applied to towns like Dundalk or Drogheda. Senators Moynihan and Currie both raised the matter of the Phoenix Park, which is particularly sensitive and complex now as the park is both for those who go to it and use it and those who go through it. How do we get that balance right? It is a major challenge. As Senator Cassells said, we must move away from the rat race mentality where all of us are stuck in cars clogging up the streets. That is not working. Reducing the demand for that through traffic would be a beneficial outcome of this time. I will cede to their local knowledge in getting the balance right.

Senator Ó Donnghaile spoke about a high-speed rail project and it will be part of a much wider rail review for the country. It is not just about Dublin, Belfast and Cork. We agreed to extend it to Derry and look at its potential. A number of Senators have raised the question of the likes of the western rail corridor. It is not just the N24 we need to look at but we must look at what to do with the rail line from Wexford to Waterford and Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel, Cahir, Tipperary town, Bansha and upwards. It is not just 19th century market towns that are our legacy. We have a legacy of being the best rail builders in the world and there are strands of rail line left that we are not using, in effect. Nobody really uses it because it is not designed to be used. It is still there and just giving up on those assets would make questionable sense. The Dublin to Belfast route will come under that wider rail review taking place this year.

Senator Byrne asked about Rosslare and to my mind that should be radically enhanced. I spoke about it in the Dáil yesterday again. We will have to invest in better road access to the port.It can also be a significant part of developing our offshore wind industry. The recent revival and growth in Rosslare Europort is only the start.

Senator Kyne referred to Galway, where there are really significant projects in prospect. We will face very significant choices in what we prioritise and the timelines around delivering various projects. I hate to say this but I believe that we have the biggest problem in Galway because of our transport and planning system. Things go awry when we do not put our planning and transport together. There is a huge pattern of transport in Galway from one side of the city to the other. There are real difficulties in this really congested city. Key to this is not just the transport infrastructure, it is about putting the public transport infrastructure in first and the housing beside that. The 15-minute town or city concept whereby one has access to everything within 15 minutes would enable us to reduce the overall volume of traffic and reduce congestion. Planning and transport need to go together.