John Kelly (Labour)
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I would like to ask the Minister of State with responsibility for sustainable transport, Deputy Alan Kelly, to consider establishing a small group to oversee the delivery of a national network of off-road cycle trails in order to assist with the timely delivery of the national cycling strategy and to create a network of trails to attract some of the cycling tourism business which is so successful elsewhere but which does not exist in Ireland.

Ireland does not have a long cycle trail as is the norm in the rest of Europe. Our existing short greenways merely provide day trips or weekend break products as well as a local amenity. They cannot form the basis of a week long cycling holiday. We need a number of long trails which will attract the fastest growing leisure pursuit in Europe. We own significant linear corridors, such as canal and river navigation towpaths, and disused railway lines. However, the creation of long trails on these assets on a county-by-county basis will result in unacceptable delays, a lack of standardisation of the product and an inability to leverage these assets further by co-locating services, such as broadband cabling, on these corridors. A small focus body would fast-track this urgent infrastructure and would achieve economies of scale which would provide best value for the taxpayer.

This is a summary of what can only be described as the debacle of cycling and long distance walking infrastructure in Ireland. Both sectors need to be examined together. Long trails in other countries are enjoyed by both walkers and cyclists for the benefit of local and national economies. Ireland has a particular problem in respect of developing off-road trails. We have access issues and an attitude which is rooted in landownership and small farm sizes. As a consequence, we have tended to create trails where we could rather than where they would be most effective. In countries like the UK, footpaths co-exist happily with farms, and walkers and cyclists respect the country code and cause no problems for landowners. We have some way to go before that level of understanding is achieved.

We, therefore, need to concentrate in the first instance on lands which are in public ownership and we need to utilise any such assets to create a basic network that would give us a place at the table of European leisure tourism. Currently, we have no such presence. In 2006, a Fáilte Ireland report showed that Ireland had almost no penetration in the cycling holiday sector and nothing has been done in the meantime to address that deficit. If we extrapolate Fáilte Ireland's figures in this regard, we are behind European norms by at least €300 million annually on the cycling side alone which is estimated to translate into approximately 5,000 jobs. The long distance walking business added to that equation would further enhance it. We have no idea of the greater potential that is there.

Our colleague, Deputy Arthur Spring, is very passionate about this issue also. He suggested that a subsidiary body of the National Roads Authority would be an option to deliver this project and to bring about the connectivity needed to bring all the local authorities together. As the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, knows, some local authorities might be passionate about this issue while others might be more passionate about protecting old railway lines. The EuroVelo project in Europe has received funding of €1 billion while a 150 km walking project in New Zealand creates one job per kilometre.

I have a report produced by Mr. John Mulligan who has an in-depth knowledge of all the various cycle routes around the country, including Dublin to Stamullen, Dublin to Strokestown via Mullingar and Longford, Dublin to Shannon Harbour, a Dublin-Limerick-Tralee route and the Boyne Valley. The list is endless. The Minister of State is probably aware of this report but I will give it to him anyway. As I said, Mr. Mulligan has an in-depth knowledge of this issue and has done some excellent work.

The Minister of State will see that what we are doing currently is not working, so we must come up with a different strategy. The suggestion I made about a separate body to head this up is the way to go and I would appreciate the Minister of State's help in delivering it.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I thank Senator Kelly, who always makes a very valuable contribution, for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to outline this Government's commitment to the development of a world class national cycling network for Ireland. I know the Fáilte Ireland figures, to which the Senator referred, in regard to tourism and there is some work to be done, although there has been some progress over the past number of years.

Domestically, cycling, as an activity, has gone through the roof. The number of people cycling for leisure and tourism purposes is phenomenal. One does not even need to see the statistics as anyone travelling around the country can see that. Trying to build cycling more into people's lives as regards their commute to school and work is a critical component which I want to push as well, in particular given that 400,000 people travel 4 km or less to work each day. From a tourism point of view, developing the infrastructure, about which the Senator spoke, is the critical issue.

The suggestion to establish a working group to oversee the delivery of cycling infrastructure has merit and has been the subject of recent discussion within my Department.

I would first like to advise Senator Kelly of the national trails advisory committee, which does some of this work. This committee, which operates as a sub-committee of the Irish Sports Council, includes representatives from a number of agencies and bodies involved in recreational trail development in Ireland. Those represented include my Department, Coillte, Cycling Ireland, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Fáilte Ireland, National Trails Office, the Irish Local Development Company Network and Waterways Ireland among many others. The functions of the committee are to oversee the implementation of the Irish trails strategy and to achieve agreement on a harmonised approach to certain elements of trail provision. The committee meets on a regular basis and is in the process of developing guidelines for the development of cycle infrastructure in Ireland. To date, the committee's work has been largely within the context of delivering on the Irish trails strategy but has allowed for information sharing on the broader issues of cycle infrastructure development in Ireland.

As the Senator knows, the demand for off-road cycle infrastructure has increased dramatically in recent years, particularly with the phenomenal success of the greenway in Mayo. This is apparent from the number of applications submitted to my Department by local authorities under the recent national cycle network funding call 2014-2016. A total of €6.5 million has been set aside for the duration of this programme to deliver a small number of greenway projects and 38 proposals were submitted from 28 authorities. I have visited many of the projects and would love to fund them all. Some of them are fantastic but we just cannot fund all of them.

There is good reason for this interest. Cycle projects, particularly off-road projects, are popular with local authorities and the general population because of the following: they are well-received and promoted by local communities; they are easy to provide from a construction perspective; and capable of providing significant benefits in line with many cross-cutting policies such as community, recreation, health, transport and tourism. They create jobs too in their construction and maintenance and through the services provided for them. I am conscious too that cycling infrastructure is being considered and delivered by several Departments and agencies across several funding programmes. This needs to be addressed too. There may even be potential for future co-funding with our European partners under the next INTERREG scheme and, once finalised, the next European regional development fund, ERDF, operational programme 2014 to 2020.

Given the ongoing demand for such projects, there may be some merit in broadening the scope of the existing cross-sectoral work through a high level group, which would formulate an agreed and consistent approach to delivering cycling infrastructure in line with the national cycle policy. Such a group would include many of the aforementioned from the national trails advisory committee as well as the National Transport Authority and the National Roads Authority. It is very much along the lines of the Senator's suggestion. The programme for Government provides for the targeting of available resources on developing and co-ordinating niche tourism products and activity packages including continued investment in the national cycle policy. A key task for any group established would be to ensure that there is a long-term vision in place that recognises the importance of investing in projects which have the potential to be branded collectively as a national product. I have no doubt that the existing cooperation between all public authorities, community groups and companies will continue into the future and we can look forward to many diverse off-road trails and cycle ways opening up around the country in the coming years.

In this context, I am very open to considering the best mechanisms for delivering such co-operation because I believe that strategic investment now will deliver returns in a multitude of ways and will make a significant contribution to our long-term goals for sustainable travel and transport. I will take the Senator's suggestion, which I welcome, and look on it positively and will return to him soon to report on the actions I will take to achieve the goals that we share.