Seanad debates

Thursday, 13 October 2022

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Cycling Facilities

10:30 am

Photo of Mark DalyMark Daly (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, to the House.

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach sincerely for allowing me to raise this matter. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth. It is always a pleasure to have him in the House as he gives open and frank answers to Senators when we raise issues.

I would like to have a discussion rather than make a request. Like many others, I welcome the huge amount of money being invested in active travel such as walking and cycling routes. It is fantastic. It is wonderful to see access routes to some schools, particularly those near villages and towns, and young children cycling and walking to school, which all of us will agree is far better. The issue I want to discuss is how we improve these routes to schools in rural areas. On quieter, narrower roads where verges are often overgrown, the cost of putting routes in place would be significant in some cases. I would like the possibility of adding a new phase to the routes being put in place, perhaps via a pilot scheme in some counties, to be explored.

Children love to cycle and walk. They love nature and weather does not seem to phase them. We all accept that walking and cycling are far healthier. Roosky, like many other towns and villages, is becoming more walking and cycle friendly. We have a few issues with local schools. Part of the bridge over the River Shannon is in Leitrim and part is in Roscommon and it is unfortunately very narrow. If two vehicles are passing on the bridge, a child, adult or parent with a buggy cannot pass. It would be a wonderful idea - and it has been spoken about - to install a footbridge. It would be environmentally friendly and would provide safe passage across the bridge for cyclists and walkers and help children going to school.

It would be nice to have pilot schemes for rural schools for which access is an issue because of road width. To make these roads safe, hedges would have to be cut back and perhaps replaced with timber fencing and drainage pipes would need to be put down to close off drains along roadsides. As I said, this involves a big cost but substantial money is now being spent on active travel, which is a very good thing for all of our people. Perhaps this proposal could be considered. I look forward to the Minister of State's reply.

Photo of Ossian SmythOssian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Murphy for raising the safe routes to school programme and providing me with the opportunity to address the Seanad about this topic on behalf of the Minister for Transport.

The programme for Government sets out an ambitious and wide-ranging set of commitments in relation to walking and cycling. It committed that €360 million in cross-government funding would be spent on walking and cycling every year over the lifetime of the Government. This is equivalent to 20% of the 2020 transport capital budget. This investment is helping to support the planned delivery of almost 1,000 km of improved walking and cycling infrastructure by 2025 and additional investment in greenways.

Earlier this year, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, announced an allocation of €289 million for active travel in 2022 and an additional investment of €60 million for greenways. This year's allocation builds on significant progress. In recent years, expenditure on and delivery of active travel projects has increased substantially. It has quadrupled from approximately €45 million in 2019 to €184 million in 2021 and this high level of funding will continue in 2023.

The National Transport Authority, NTA, works with local authorities to allocate this funding to specific projects. In 2022, Roscommon County Council received €3.2 million in active travel funding, while Leitrim County Council received €2 million. Provision for projects under the safe routes to school programme in both local authority areas is included in this funding. The programme was launched by the Department of Transport in 2021 and it has the aim of supporting walking, scooting and cycling to primary and post-primary schools and creating safer walking and cycling routes within communities through the provision of infrastructure interventions.There was a fantastic response to the call which was sent to all schools in the country. Some 931 applications received and 170 schools were notified on 21 June 2021 that they had been selected for inclusion in the first round of the programme. Two schools have since deferred their applications and one school has withdrawn, leaving 167 schools in round 1. It should be noted that all schools that applied to the original call for applications were accepted into the programme. If not selected in round 1, they will be selected for forthcoming rounds.

The safe routes to school, SRTS, team in the NTA, and An Taisce have confirmed that no schools in Rooskey, County Roscommon, itself applied to the programme. The nearest school to Rooskey that was included in round 1 of the programme is Scoil Mhuire in Newtown Forbes, County Longford, which is currently at options development phase. There are five schools in County Roscommon which applied and were selected for round 1 of the safe routes to school programme. These are Carrick National School, Ballinlough, and Scoil Náisiúnta Cruacháin, Croghan, which are also at options development phase, and St. Joseph’s National School, Coláiste Chiaráin, Summerhill, Athlone, and St Paul’s National School, Castlerea, which are at preliminary design phase.

In terms of overall progress under the safe routes to school programme, 17 schools had front-of-school measures completed under the programme, 16 schools are in the detailed design phase and three are under construction. The remainder are under development or design or are involved in statutory processes or public consultation. In addition, under a separate branch of the programme, 303 schools have had cycle parking installed. Since its launch, about €3 million has been spent to date. Due to the overwhelming initial response to the programme, with over one quarter of all schools in the country submitting an application, there are currently no plans for an additional call for schools to join the programme at this time. It is worth noting that schools which did not apply to the programme may be eligible for mainstream active travel funding towards walking and cycling interventions. Schools seeking such funding should contact their local authority directly.

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's statement and acknowledge the significant amount of money that has come into counties Roscommon and Longford. The positive thing about this is that of the 170 schools that were notified they had been included, only three opted out for genuine reasons. I presume some of them will come back on stream again. It shows that schoolchildren, teachers and parents are very much pro this type of activity. In the area I am talking about, particularly regarding national schools and the local knowledge, there is Ballyfeeney National School out from Rooskey, there is Rooskey school, there is Slatta school, and there is Cloonfour, all in the immediate region. The problem we have is that it is extremely difficult to put routes on rural roads and in rural. We have to get it safe, we cannot take chances, and we all acknowledge that. I acknowledge that to put some of those routes in place would be very expensive. I presume, what the Minister of State will say is that schools can apply again when the time occurs and see what could be done in terms of possibly putting in part of route, whereby it may be possible for people to be dropped off at a point and then take their bikes to the school. That would be good.

I welcome the statement. I will go back to the schools about this. I am encouraged that the Government policy will be to continue this type of funding. The money is there now for next year.

Photo of Ossian SmythOssian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. Right now, money is not the problem or the constraint. Under our programme for Government, €1 million a day is available for walking and cycling improvements. What better way is there to spend that than to make it safe for children to walk and cycle to school? It has multiple benefits, but part of it is just health and happiness and not making parents have to drive their children to school before they go to work, and so on. It is a very good thing to do.

Any school that did not apply or was not included can go to the local authority. My understanding on the local authorities is that the problem is not the lack of money but that the local authorities are not getting around to spending the money. Local representatives should lobby their local authority to allocate the money and spend it. This is not money which is specially targeted to urban or suburban areas. If a national school is one kilometre outside the village and has no footpath, the money can be spent on footpaths. It does not have to be about cycling and bikes. It can be about making it safe to walk to school; even just providing an option. That is the reason parents do not allow their kids to walk to school. When we do the research about why children are driven to school, it is all about safety. If we can provide a safe route, a safe alternative, we know it will happen. In my county, in one of the schools where interventions were made, 90% of the children are now walking and cycling to school, which is an incredible change from where it had been. It had been about 30%. It can work.

Regarding Leitrim County Council and walking and cycling infrastructure across the river in Rooskey, I know the NTA has granted an allocation for this project in the 2022 active travel allocations and it is expected the local authority should be in a position to have a consultant in place before the end of this year to undertake the initial concept and feasibility study for the provision of a suitable measure at this location. That could be a footpath across the river, a shuttle system or some other intervention.