Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 109: To ask the Minister for Transport the amount of funding available in 2010 and 2011 for the cycle ways project; if he has plans to build on the success of this programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35111/10]

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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My Department has allocated funding to a number of projects relating to cycle routes, some of which are development projects relating for example to scoping studies, and others which are for the provision of cycle routes. The total amount allocated by my Department to these projects is about €22.5 million of which €13.5 million relates to 2010 and €3.3 million to 2011. In some cases, other agencies are supplementing these allocations through co-funding arrangements.

The projects include in particular the National Road Authority's National Cycle Network Scoping Study and the scoping of a cycle route from Dublin to Galway; the Great Western Greenway from Westport to Achill which is being funded with Fáilte Ireland; and a number of cycle routes in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Leitrim and Limerick. The development of a culture of cycling is one of the objectives of both the Smarter Travel Plan and the National Cycle Policy Framework, with a target of having 10% of all commuting trips by bike by 2020. Cycle networks and routes are a key way of making cycling a normal way to get about, and I am committed to making further progress in this area.