Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Friday is the deadline for the greater Dublin area draft transport strategy for 2022 to 2042. Within that is the revised greater Dublin area cycle network. The last strategy was in 2013. I am not sure that people are aware that the new cycle network is in the plans, so I would like to bring people's attention to that. On close inspection, it seems that the concept of a Liffey Valley greenway has been dropped in those plans, which is disappointing. The Liffey Valley is thankfully protected under a special area amenity order. It needs more protections from an environmental point of view. There is potential for a greenway between St. Catherine's Park, Strawberry Beds, St. Edmundsbury, Waterstown Park, Farmleigh Park and the memorial gardens in Islandbridge. Being able to cross the Liffey at different points, as people used to use the Liffey a long time ago, would connect the villages of Leixlip, Lucan, Clonsilla, Castleknock, Chapelizod and Palmerstown. It is an exceptional, outstanding area of beauty and biodiversity. It is an ecological corridor of cultural and heritage value. By providing a sustainable route, it could be a world-class sustainable tourism trail. I am asking for the Liffey Valley greenway to be reinstated into the greater Dublin area cycle network by the National Transport Authority. I am seeking better environmental protections. We need to open it up responsibly to the public and protect it from development.