Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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266. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the provision of additional flat surface car parking in urban centres given the commitment in the programme for Government to a modal shift to cycling, walking and public transport. [16498/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As the Deputy is aware this Government is committed to the rejuvenation of our urban centres. In my mind that rejuvenation means increasing the ‘liveability’ and quality of life for all citizens who live or visit our cities, towns and villages and making them centres of commercial, social and cultural activity for their hinterlands, whether that hinterland is urban or rural in nature.

I acknowledge that this issue is a whole of Government one and indeed one for which the Deputy’s own Department has an important role. I understand that his Department is developing new ‘sustainable settlement guidance’ to offer practical and targeted guidance towards improving practice as regards sustainable settlement planning and best practice urban design, including reducing the impact of parking on the public realm. This will type of guidance will support work underway in relation to the ‘Town Centres First' initiative which is being led by his Department and the Department for Rural and Community Development, an initiative which I very much support.

A key part of that rejuvenation of our urban centres means improving the public realm and that is recognized in the National Planning Frameworkthrough its references to same for each of the five cities and also its specific National Policy Objective 18a in respect of rural towns. I note this particular National Policy Objective is also supported within the recommendations of Our Rural Future – Rural Development Policy 2021 to 2025which was launched this week.

Interventions in our urban centres must therefore be considered with regard to whether that intervention will improve the ‘liveability’ of the area or detract from it. I believe that a key intervention in that regard within the ambit of my Department is to increase the funding available to support improved active travel infrastructure – walking and cycling – and I am delighted that we have increased that funding and are now seeing active travel specific funding being rolled out across the country.

The Deputy may also wish to know that issue of parking in urban centres and its influence on people’s choice of transport mode is something that was raised by consultees during my Department’s consultation period on our review of sustainable mobility policy and it was also considered as part of the Five Cities Demand Management Study,which will be published very shortly.

It is my clear position that we need to promote sustainable mobility and prioritise interventions that assist, and not hinder, that promotion.