Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, asked me to answer this and gave me a comprehensive answer. I hope I have time to read it. He wants to provide an update on the new moving together strategy, which is currently out on public consultation. As well as extensive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders during development of this draft strategy, I understand the Department of Transport is planning further engagement with critical stakeholders over the coming months while the public consultation is under way. Alleviating traffic congestion is important to everyone. This new strategy has potential to deliver efficiency across our national transport system for the benefit of all. I would encourage the Senator to engage with the Department of Transport as a key stakeholder.

Senator Lombard will know that in recent decades, like most other countries, car and road based freight have become the dominant means for moving people and goods within Ireland. Through urban planning and road building programmes, this trend was supported by allocating more and more of our public and civic spaces to cars, vans and trucks. While this makes sense from several perspectives, it did give rise to some problems. One of those is traffic congestion and there has also been a cultural shift in how we think about public space and how we prioritise its use. Motorised transport became the priority, while space for people rather than cars became inadvertently demoted. Communities became severed by heavily trafficked streets and active transport became a much greater challenge.Knowing what we now know, we may have adopted a different approach; however, there is still a lot to be learned from our past. Before motorised transport was all-pervasive, people walked and cycled to the local shops, supported local businesses and lived in a way that limited waste and used resources efficiently. Our towns were thriving marketplaces as well as vibrant centres for community living. Today, however, many of our historic medieval and market towns are choked with traffic. Narrow streets in beautiful towns like Kinsale mean space is at a premium. Congestion, as well as causing localised pollution and health implications, makes it difficult to access shops and services. Equally, it makes it difficult for people to move about safely. This particularly affects children and the elderly, which has implications for independence and community life. Congestion does not work for anyone. It does not work for drivers or users of public transport, and it certainly does not work for anybody who wants to walk, wheel or cycle. Therefore, we need a new approach.

In its 2022 report Redesigning Ireland's Transport for Net Zero, the OECD advised that Ireland is unlikely to achieve its climate goals without a systemic change in its transport system and substantially different patterns of travel behaviour than those observed today. The OECD called for policies of high transformative potential, such as road space reallocation. With a growing population and a buoyant economy, the transport sector is now at a critical juncture and there is growing recognition that, across the world, the prevailing car-centric model is reaching the limits of its efficiency. It is having impacts on towns like Kinsale, which have a rich historical heritage but that need to meet the service and retail needs of surrounding areas as well as those of visitors and tourists. To this end, the new strategy, Moving Together, is being developed to help alleviate the impacts of car dependency on the economy, environment and health of our society. Cars, vans and trucks will continue to be a vital part of our transport mix but we must plan for their use in a better way. Local authorities like Cork County Council will be critical in this planning. It is intended that the strategy will provide the guidance needed for local authorities and local council representatives to develop bespoke plans for their own areas — plans that are co-created with local communities in towns like Kinsale.

Later in the year, after the public consultation has concluded, on 21 August, and the Department of Transport has completed its engagement plan, it is intended to bring the draft strategy, along with an implementation plan, to the Government. The Minister for Transport urges local government representatives to engage as much as possible in the development of this strategy so it fully reflects the types of issues faced by towns up and down the country in their efforts to address congestion.