Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being with us here today. We have spoken numerous times about many projects, in particular around Galway. I was involved in the local campaign for the Galway to Dublin cycleway. It is fantastic that the bridge in Athlone is now getting built. It is an amazing project. It is three pieces of infrastructure, and they were brought over further down the Shannon and the bridge is being set up now. In Athlone, people are walking, bringing prams and out on their bikes. I am amazed at how many pedestrians are using the cycleway. It just shows the importance of infrastructure. We do not even have a park in Ballinasloe. There are no safe places to go where people are off-road and away from cars. That is an amazing project and the timelines around it are important. Could the Minister comment on TII's focus on the timelines for the delivery of the project. The project team in Ballinasloe hopes to see construction commence in 2025 or 2026. Please God it will get through An Bord Pleanála.

It is wonderful to see the Bill. The Minister has put a lot into it. The Bill tackles many different areas relating to roads, in particular concerning e-scooters and e-bikes. It is great to have the legislation in place to regulate the issue given the challenge presented by e-scooters in city centres. I do not have one myself, but it is great to see e-bikes becoming so popular and that we will be able to use them on cycleways and greenways.

I do not know the Minister's future plans for active travel, but I am interested to hear about local authorities being able to invest in more regional cycleways and greenways to connect into the major ones. The Galway to Athlone cycleway will be major and world-class infrastructure but I am interested to hear how local authorities will perhaps be able to link in with more regional cycleways, perhaps not of the same standard, in four to five years.The antisocial use of scramblers is an issue in parts of Limerick city and in many city centres. It is great that the Garda will have the powers to seize these vehicles.

Other Senators raised points about TII and road safety. Parts of the Bill will give additional powers to the Garda in respect of penalty points. I refer to local authorities' investment in road safety in rural areas. Drivers will often speed through junctions of major roads and minor roads. The local authorities are challenged in getting the right resources. They are looking at engaging with consultants around safety on these roads but consultant costs alone are massive. We fought to get funding to introduce road safety measures at a junction in our area. It was not possible to get consultants to look at a long-term and better solution because the consultant costs were in excess of the amount allocated for the road safety measure. Can anything be done in that regard? If local authorities need to engage with consultants on road safety in rural or other areas, can we factor in that cost when providing funding for dangerous road sections where there have been accidents?

The Minister referred to the variable nature of speed limits, particularly in the context of the M50. I am looking at variable speed limits outside towns and villages, for example, where there are football, GAA and rugby clubs. In our town, for example, the rugby club is outside the town. I am trying to get a footpath to connect the town and the rugby club so that people can get to training. The club is about 2 km or 3 km outside the town but the challenge is that the 50 km/h speed zone is before this. The local authority will not consider providing a footpath where the 50 km/h speed zone is within the speed limit. Can anything be done to provide for variable speed limits near clubs attended by children and families? This would encourage cycling and walking.

I have campaigned on other challenging areas in respect of the Connecting Ireland project. We have done an awful lot on school transport, which is a big issue for me. We have also looked at this within Fine Gael. My colleague, Senator Pauline O'Reilly, raised the issue of bus and public transport capacity and asked about other options, but the only option available in many areas is to use buses. Buses use roads and until there is another option - we do not have train tracks - we will need access to good roads in these areas. Is there an update on options for buses as part of the Connecting Ireland programme? We did a big campaign on this last December. We are still waiting to hear the outcome from those reports.

On Bus Éireann capacity, seemingly Galway is a big issue according to Bus Éireann under the school transport section. I know this comes under the Department of Education, and I am the spokesperson on education, but is there anything we can look at here? It seems the Minister has a budget she can allocate towards school transport. Bus Éireann is saying there is a capacity issue. Is that an issue with buses? I am not familiar with the challenges involved but can anything be done regarding that? This would encourage people in rural areas to use public transport.

I have different views on the Galway ring road because I have lived and worked in Galway. We must encourage public access to buses. To do that requires more than putting in a bus stop without a shelter or cover, as is the case in many areas in County Galway. People are left waiting for an hour because the bus is stuck in traffic and there is no chance of having a better road to get people from A to B.