Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an Seanad ar maidin.

As part of the programme for Government that the Greens successfully negotiated, the ratio of Government investment in transport was flipped from 2:1 in favour of roads to 2:1 in favour of public transport and active travel. As part of this, in October 2022, the Minister announced 35 groundbreaking pathfinder projects around the country that encompass significant road space reallocation favouring walking and cycling in our cities and towns and large-scale investment in public transport. In my county of Kildare, the Naas mobility network integration project was successfully included in the list of pathfinder programmes approved. The proposal for Naas aims to reduce traffic congestion in the town centre and includes improvements to bus stop infrastructure, cycle and scooter hire, a 6.2 m wide main carriageway, accessible parking spaces, pedestrian crossings, outdoor seating, tree planting, and public realm improvements. The main street will be positively reshaped and it will transform Naas for the better. From track record evidence, as well as reducing carbon emissions, local town centre economic activity and local tourism will be boosted.

The Minister is on record that time is of the essence and that projects should be completed over the next three years. Kildare County Council ought to be commended. It put in the hard yards and the heavy lifting in doing a super job in securing this €20 million investment for County Kildare, yet in April of this year, former Green Party councillor in Naas, Colm Kenny, in reply to a question submitted to the council, was informed that discussions were still ongoing to secure funding. As recently as yesterday, at the Naas municipal district monthly meeting, in response to a question submitted by local Green Party Councillor Bob Quinn, the council reply stated that the sustainable transport section did not have a funding allocation for the project but it was said to be working closely with the Department of Transport to develop a mechanism to secure funding to progress this important initiative. It is coming up to ten months and it looks like it is still in the embryonic stage of developing a mechanism. Considering the Minister made it clear that time is of the essence and that the roll-out of these projects has a time shelf life, if the time-sensitive conditions are not met, the grant moneys could be jeopardised. Naturally, an increasing number of people are concerned that the council still feels justified in insisting on this ultra-careful, extremely cautious, show-me-the-money-first approach. In general terms, is this the order of the day that the Minister is experiencing from other local authorities that are approved for funding? Has he, or will he again, give assurance in respect of the funding for this highly meritorious project?