Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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91. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way she is encouraging active travel to schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35178/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) 2014-2020 aims to ensure that education contributes to sustainable development by equipping learners with the relevant knowledge (the ‘what’), the key dispositions and skills (the ‘how’) and the values (the ‘why’) that will motivate and empower them throughout their lives to become informed active citizens who take action for a more sustainable future which delivers on the UNs Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 4.7.

As set out in an interim review of the strategy in 2018, the Department continues to work with Green Schools to increase the number of schools participating in the programme.

I recently launched a joint public consultation with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris, for a new strategy on ESD to 2030 for publication in early 2022.

A range of programmes and resources are available to support teachers and schools to deliver ESD including An Taisce’s Green-Schools programme which engages with 94% of schools.

The Green-Schools programme impacts for the academic year 2019/2020 included: 2,500 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill, 29 million units of electricity saved, 592 million litres of water saved, 4,000 students received cycle training, 1,100 bike and scooter parking spaces created and 2,799 native Irish trees planted, In addition to the Green-Schools Travel programme, Green-Schools recently launched the Safe Routes to School programme which aims to create safer walking and cycling routes within communities, alleviate congestion at the school gates and increase the number of students who walk or cycle to school by providing walking and cycling facilities. The improvements to the school commute could range from an upgraded footpath or new cycle lane to a complete reworking of a school’s entrance. The programme, which is the next phase in the Government’s investment in active travel, will see funding provided from the €1.8 billion committed under the Programme for Government, to support walking/scooting and cycling to primary and post-primary schools. 170 schools have been selected to participate in the first round of the programme with 932 expressing an interest. The programme is funded by the Department of Transport through the National Transport Authority (NTA) and is supported by the Department of Education. Green-Schools is co-ordinating the programme, while funding will be made available to local authorities which will play a key part in delivering the infrastructure along access routes and at the school gate.

The latest Green Schools Travel report for 2019 is available here: greenschoolsireland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/GST-Annual-Report-2019-small.pdf

The National Transport Authority have also published a toolkit for schools aimed at reducing the number of children who travel to school by car:

With regard to school transport, the School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. In the current school year over 114,100 children, including over 14,700 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €224.7m in 2020. The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. My Department shares a common interest on how students travel to school and while the School Transport Scheme is for the provision of transport by means of travelling in vehicles, we are supportive of initiatives involving walking and cycling to school. My Department recently commenced the review of the School Transport Scheme. This review will take a fresh look at the School Transport service and its broader effectiveness and sustainability, and will build upon the commitments within the Programme for Government as they relate to school transport, including examining options to reduce car journeys and assessing how the School Transport Scheme can work in liaison with the Safe Routes to Schools Programme.

My Department also issues a quarterly ESD Newsletter to all schools which aims to raise awareness and promote a whole institution approach to sustainability in Education.