Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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The word "opportunity" is often overused in politics, but not when it comes to the impact that greenways have had on our tourism market and on recreation. In Dublin, the Royal Canal and Grand Canal urban greenways are being progressed. In Dublin 15, we have seen rounds of non-statutory consultation and we await the next planning stage. I believe that an application in respect of the Royal Canal greenway will be submitted in autumn. Environmental surveys are being conducted currently and there will be a report on the latest public consultation in June. The sooner there is progress with this greenway, the better.

The Royal Canal and Grand Canal greenways will provide significant recreational benefits, but they are also major transport infrastructure.There are plans to connect the two greenways via Lucan and Westmanstown and to make Lucan into a destination town for tourism, which is great news. South Dublin County Council is heading for its second round of public consultation and Fingal County Council is tendering for preliminary designs and perhaps going into a public consultation on that next year. The National Transport Authority, NTA, is a key stakeholder and it is funding this canal loop.

Why stop there? Why limit Dublin to only urban greenways and transport-led greenways when we have, on our doorstep, the Liffey Valley. The Liffey Valley could easily be a spur to this Dublin canal loop greenway, a spur that would be a world-class and sustainable amenity. It could criss-cross the Liffey Valley, which was recognised as a special amenity area in the 1990s, although nothing has happened in conservation or in enhancing it since. It is recognised by Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications as an area of outstanding beauty and special recreational value. If we can make greenways work in geographically sensitive areas in other parts of the country, why not do so here? It has hidden weirs, the St. Edmundsbury lands, the Strawberry Beds and Shackleton Mill, a water-powered flour mill from the 1770s. It can also be connected to some of Dublin’s most stunning parks, like St. Catherine's Park, Porterstown Park, Waterstown Park in Palmerston, the Phoenix Park and the Irish National War Memorial Gardens. There is the Farmleigh Bridge, which we should do a feasibility study of to see if it can be opened up to connect from Palmerston Park and Waterstown Park through to the Phoenix Park.

We are talking about connectivity to the Phoenix Park and here is an example of a greenway that would connect to the Strawberry Beds and Palmerston via a bridge that is not being utilised. Then there is a spur to the Dunsink Observatory, which needs to take its place in our heritage and in our cultural and scientific history. We should open it up as an asset and that can connect to the Phoenix Park and Ashtown via the Hamilton Way. It is great that the canal loop greenway is on the table but where is the progress and can we please include a Liffey Valley greenway within that as well?

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank Senator Currie for the opportunity to address the Seanad to talk about the Dublin canal loop greenway. The programme for Government sets out an ambitious and wide-ranging set of commitments on walking and cycling and has committed that over €360 million in cross-government funding will be spent on walking and cycling per annum over the lifetime of the Government, equivalent to 20% of the 2020 transport capital budget. This investment will help support the planned delivery of almost 1,000 km of improved walking and cycling infrastructure by 2025, as well as additional investment in greenways.

The Minister for Transport announced an allocation earlier this year of €289 million for active travel in 2022, in addition to an investment of €60 million for greenways. This year’s allocation builds on significant progress in recent years. Expenditure on and delivery of active travel, as funded by the Department, has increased substantially, quadrupling from circa€45 million in 2019 to €184 million in 2021. The Department has also recently published its sustainable mobility strategy with a list of actions that will guide public investment in the coming years, promoting and creating an environment that encourages more walking and wheeling, with a great use of public transport supported by services such as increased bike parking and shared bike schemes and by bringing in reduced fares on public transport. Not only should walking and cycling infrastructure be safe and accessible for all, it should also form part of a wider sustainable mobility network which will allow people to travel in and around our cities using the sustainable modes of transport of their choice. This must be taken into consideration by the Department, the NTA and the relevant local authorities when allocating funding to new active travel or greenway infrastructure projects. The Department of Transport is working with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the NTA to develop a national cycle network which will ensure that investments are focused in an efficient manner and which should outline the cycling routes that are currently available across the country, identify gaps in the network and ascertain the improvements that are likely to be required.

With regard to the canal loop urban greenway, substantial sections of the loop are already completed, including Portobello to Grand Canal Dock, Guild Street to the Royal Canal, Royal Canal phase 2, which is Sheriff Street to North Strand Road, and Royal Canal Ashtown to Castleknock. There are also a number of sections of the canal loop urban greenway on the NTA's active travel capital programme which are in development, including Royal Canal phase 3, which is North Strand Road to Phibsborough, Royal Canal phase 4, which is Phibsborough to Ashtown, Royal Canal Castleknock to Kildare border and the canal loop greenway from Lucan to the Grand Canal. Any sections of the loop not completed or in planning are included on the latest greater Dublin area cycle network and will thus be considered to be added to the capital programme in the coming years.

To conclude, a lot of work has already taken place on sections of this route, a lot of work is ongoing and where work has not commenced it will commence in the coming years. The completion of this work will see a connected, continuous route that will benefit commuters, leisure cyclists and tourists in the coming years and provide safe, segregated cycling infrastructure that will attract even more people out of their cars and onto bicycles for journeys to work, to school and just for the pleasure of cycling.

Senator Currie has raised an important issue. It is an issue on which a great deal of work has taken place. I see it in my area with the Sligo greenway and the many greenways we want to connect villages and towns. I hope we can be like Germany or Holland and just see this as a normal way of travelling into the city. There are big opportunities here. It has already started and that the Senator is anxious to see it progressed as quickly as possible. It is a very commendable view, and a view that this Government is committed to delivering.

Emer Currie (Fine Gael)
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Yes, we are making great progress in this area and the level of investment reflects that. The recruitment of active travel personnel in county councils reflects it as well. I am here because I see an opportunity for Dublin 15 and I want to put every effort into seeing it happen. The Minister of State spoke about the greater Dublin area cycle network. There were errors in it, actually, as part of the greater Dublin area transport strategy and the Liffey Valley greenway was dropped. There were still routes on the map but there were fewer routes than there were in the previous one in 2013. I am very keen that this remains a strategic priority. It does not have to be a separate greenway but should be a spur of this project. It would open up a section of Dublin that is hidden and it could be a world-class, sustainable recreational amenity.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Senator for her contribution to this discussion. With regard to the wider active travel measures being promoted by the Government, this year has seen another increase in the Department of Transport's overall funding for cycling and walking, in line with the Government’s prioritisation of active travel and greenways. We saw the increasing number of people opting to make journeys by walking or cycling during the Covid-19 restrictions. That shows the potential to make real strides in the modal shift towards more sustainable modes of transport. The money is there and, as politicians, we have to be vigilant to ensure the funding remains. There are major opportunities in this area. We have come of age in the past number of years regarding what the Senator talked about, such as spurs and linking all the various greenways. I am not saying there was any blockage but the funding is there. Many people in the local authorities are now aware that this is what needs to be done. The Government is fully committed to this. I thank the Senator for raising the matter.