Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I thank the Minister for taking the time to come into the Chamber today. I acknowledge the supreme extra challenge he faces as a Minister at this time. I thank him for committing to a review of the national development plan as a result.

The existing national development plan is not fit for purpose on climate. There is no strategic environmental assessment and it did not provide any numbers for specific emissions reductions. It does not recognise the climate impacts of new infrastructure. That is why this review of the plan must update it to include climate proofing. On that issue, for example, look at flooding and the amount we spend on hard engineering as a short-term localised solution when catchment area-based solutions cost a fraction of the amount. Instead of just solving the problem in one place and shoving in on to the next place, catchment-based solutions are fantastic. They cost less, effect change on a large scale and improve biodiversity and prevent farmers having to worry about flooding. As a rural dweller, I see farms, half of which flood regularly now as a result of our changing weather patterns. We really need to take seriously proper investment in catchment area solutions.

From a Green Party perspective, rural transport infrastructure is key. We have done well so far this year. I welcome the commitment in the programme for Government that the updated national development plan will prioritise public transport projects that enhance regional and rural connectivity in line with the national planning framework for additional funding. The programme for Government committed to a transformation in transport funding with 10% of the capital transport budget for walking, 10% for cycling and the remainder allocated in favour of public transport over road building and maintenance by a factor of 2:1. It is crucial that this is reflected in the updated national development plan. We need all of it and, unfortunately, the Minister has to deliver on it.

We must support, improve and expand public transport options in rural areas and so far, I am really grateful for the extra services Local Link now provides. It is providing services in places where we never had them or where we had them once a week, if we were lucky. Personally, I try to use public transport all the time coming up and down to Dublin. However, the last train to Ennis, County Clare, is at 5 p.m. Unfortunately, the last bus from Limerick to Ennis leaves five minutes before the last train. We also need, therefore, to have that joined-up thinking. We need to now get Irish Rail and Bus Éireann on board in order that they link up with each other. A person could, therefore, get the train to the bus and then link up with his or her Local Link service. We are a small country. We could get this right if we put energy into it. We must embed the principles of balanced regional development clusters and compact growth, as Senator Higgins mentioned, and improved connectivity to deliver a just transition.

On the point of greenways, with which everybody is now on board, I wrote the farmers first policy as an amendment to our strategy on greenways in the Green Party policy on rural development. I urge the Minister to look at that because before we decide where greenways are going, we must engage with the landowners.Best practice is not sticking to the old railway line or trails and sometimes it can involve moving to the edge of the land. We need to consider that because once we have the landowners onboard we can progress instead of spending many years trying to get these things off the ground. We must put farmers first and I urge the Minister to read the Farmers First policy document that I authored.

We must shift to active transport. Expenditure wherever there is walking and cycling is crucial as it will give people options and make the roads safe for everybody. The Minister must engage with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII. We have roads narrower than the path in the Chamber yet there are speed limits of 80 km or 100 km, which is absolutely insane. Some lad on a computer in Dublin came up with these speed limits and it is absolute madness. Old people are afraid to walk on these rural roads, kids cannot cycle on them and dogs get killed on them. There is a huge issue with ridiculous high speeds being allowed on rural roads.

At present, a quarter of all nine year olds are overweight. A big part of that is because they cannot physically move safely around the place. If we could give children independent travel and freedom to move again then that will be a huge step. It will also save us having to spend huge amounts of money on health services. Such an initiative makes economic sense and health sense.

Another big issue for me is that it is very difficult for people to live above shops in villages and towns. As a result, the lifeline and lifeblood have been drained from villages and towns. People now live in a suburbia-type scenario and that is not just in cities but in villages and towns. We need to simplify the bureaucracy and the costs around having a dual purpose for shops. Many of my friends have attempted to do this work but got caught up with huge expense yet still cannot live above the shop due to the rigmarole that exists at the moment. I urge the Minister to consider this matter. We need to take a town centres first approach and get as many people as possible living in towns and living above the shop instead of having the dispersed settlement patterns that have occurred over the last few decades. One can see this pattern in Dublin since Covid arrived because only the people who live in Dublin city centre are visible. One sees nobody because nobody lives in cities any more as they have all moved to the suburbs. If one wants to learn from the mistakes that were made in America where they just threw everybody out to suburbia and made them all car dependent, a move which they now regret, then one must watch a brilliant film called "The End of Suburbia". It is one of the best films ever made on how to get it wrong and how we can learn from the mistakes made in America.

In terms of water infrastructure, as I said earlier today on the plinth when the Green Party launched a motion on water, we cannot build any houses until we have water infrastructure. In Broadford and Miltown Malbay in County Clare, we have all of the money, the sites, and the houses have been designed and are shovel-ready, but without water infrastructure there will be nothing built. Therefore, we must take water infrastructure seriously and invest in it.

Infrastructure deficits in Ireland impact on the provision of safe and secure drinking water. They lead to pollution and environmental damage. They present a challenge to achieving sustainable development across urban and rural Ireland. Water supply must be put before housing need because one cannot have people moving into houses if there is no running water. Continued investment in infrastructure coupled with innovative and modern approaches is absolutely necessary and fast becoming an emergency.

Of course we need the national broadband plan to be rolled out as soon as possible and people are always saying so. We have had some good successes in County Clare because people can now avail of ten Wi-Fi hubs at a very low cost. I welcome more of that investment and let us see the plan rolled out as soon as possible. We can borrow money cheaper than ever before so if we do not invest now then we will never do so. Now is the time and I wish the Minister the best of luck with the review.