Seanad debates
Wednesday, 12 July 2023
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Traffic Management
10:30 am
Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, to the House and express my thanks and delight that there is a senior Cabinet Minister again here today for our Commencement matters. It is always good to have senior Ministers taking Commencement matters and I thank the Minister for being here today.
Vincent P Martin (Green Party)
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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?
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator for raising what is a very important issue for the county of Kildare and the people in the town of Naas, but it also allows me to outline some of the work we are doing on these pathfinder projects and why they have been introduced. As the Senator said, 35 projects have been agreed with a wide application. We went to every county council and asked them to come forward with proposals. We selected what we thought were the best projects from them and those that could be shown would be delivered by the end of 2025. Pathfinder is designed to show we can deliver quickly because our transport emissions continue to rise. The gridlock that a booming economy brings continues to be one of the biggest effects on people's quality of life, and we need to switch to a more sustainable active travel public transport alternative. The whole variety of pathfinder projects was designed, therefore, to give council throughout the country the opportunity to show how we could do this in order that we could then replicate this in other towns. If we can get this really attractive project in Naas stopping all the through traffic going through the centre of town, there are ready alternatives where we can divert such traffic, introduce really good pedestrian areas, connect up the other active travel and public transport initiatives we are doing in the town, and then at the core, really develop the centre of the town as a really attractive public place to visit, shop and socialise in, as well as to get around using sustainable modes. This is an important project.
Two projects had similar characteristics and involved real town revitalisation traffic management exercises in Clonmel and Naas. It was agreed internally on both that in the absence of funding from any other budget, we would agree to make sure funding would be available from the climate action fund to provide for these projects such were their importance. I met with the county manager and the director of services last year because I had heard they had concerns about whether this was a real prospect and I reassured them it absolutely was. However, the most urgent issue is speed because there is an issue if we cannot deliver this project by the end of the 2025 and if the council is not on track to deliver this project by the end of that year. I made it clear right through the pathfinder project that if councils were not keen and were not developing projects in a timely manner, we would transfer the money to other projects. We have a substitute list of other projects that other councils are very keen to progress in this way. I am concerned, and I hope my concerns are not borne out to be true, that Kildare County Council seems to be hesitant, as the Senator said in his introduction.They need to have the Part 8 process concluded to introduce these traffic management measures by, at the latest, very early next year. To do that, there are key timelines and markers. I will be keeping a close eye on it. As I said to Kildare County Council and to every other council, if they are not able to deliver in the timeframe, we will reallocate the funding elsewhere and another town will be able to get the benefit of showing what is possible in moving to this more sustainable future. I hope that does not prove to be the case. I hope the local authority makes it clear that it is looking to get the approval. It would obviously be up to the councillors. All these decisions are bottom-up decisions. It will be up to Kildare County Council to decide whether it wants to proceed with the project. If they do not, we will reallocate the funding quickly. If they do, I will be more happy than anyone else and will look forward to the day when we are there in a revitalised, completely reformed and improved Naas town centre through this traffic management measure. I hope we can deliver that before 2025, as committed to.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Before I call the Senator, there is standard practice that we would have a script for Commencement matters and there does not appear to be any here.
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I have it here.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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That is okay. We will get them on the way out. I thank the Minister.
Vincent P Martin (Green Party)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, for his clear unambiguous statement. That clarification, I hope, will be a catalyst for positive action and translating words into action. This is real.
The Minister is a frequent visitor to Naas. I hope to see him there again soon. The Minister will be aware at first hand of the benefits of this project. I regret to say that there is no sign of Part 8. The public have not been informed of that yet. It has not been advertised. I am hoping today that it has been made crystal clear, on the record of Seanad Éireann, both that this is still a good project and that while it is late, it is not too late. I will work with the Minister, with the local councillors, with the Green Party councillors and with the local authority in anything I can do to ensure this money is not jeopardised. We need the €20 million for Naas and for this county. It will reverberate around the full county.
Let us get moving on this. It is time for action.
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I absolutely agree with the Senator. It is time for action.
The exact cost will obviously have to be set out. That was an indicative amount. It could be less. It depends on how the project is staged. Works, as I said, have to be completed by the end of 2025 to qualify.
The funding is available. That political commitment in the use of the climate fund is absolutely clear and certain. The only question is whether Kildare County Council can work in a timely manner to deliver it for the people of that town. I hope and expect that it will.
I am slightly concerned at what the Senator seems to indicate, that there is not that public-----
Vincent P Martin (Green Party)
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It is nearly ten months in.
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We will have to act very fast here. As I said, we have regular meetings of our sustainable mobility task force reviewing each and every project and if one does fall out of a credible timeline, we will reallocate the funding. I hope that does not happen.