Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As the Deputy may be aware, my Department is responsible for the implementation of 54 specific commitments in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future.

Significant progress has been made in all policy areas of my Department since 27 June 2020 and I believe that we are well on track to deliver on the Programme for Government commitments in all areas.

I would highlight the following key policy achievements over this period:

Climate Action

My Department achieved an overall completion rate of 73% under Climate Action Plan 2021, with 76 of 104 actions that were due by end Q4 2022 complete. Following Government’s establishment of the legally binding carbon budget programme and subsequent sectoral emissions ceilings, my Department has also completed a significant programme of work to recalibrate its sectoral decarbonisation pathway to comply with our 50% emissions abatement target by 2030.

This work has informed the update to the Climate Action Plan 2023 – Transport chapter and its associated Annex of Actions, which is the first statutory Climate Action Plan since the establishment of the sectoral emissions ceilings and is required to demonstrate a pathway to achieving 50% transport emissions abatement by 2030.

The Department’s update to the transport decarbonisation pathway has also been informed by the OECD’s Redesigning Irish Transport report (published October 2022), undertaken at the request of the Climate Change Advisory Council. In recognition of the OECD report’s findings that the Irish transport system embeds car-dependency and increased emissions by design, the AVOID-SHIFT-IMPROVE framework for transport sustainability has been applied to categorise all actions, emphasising the crucial role that spatial and land-use planning hold in designing transport systems that can support our net-zero ambition.

Research is undertaken under the Climate Action Plan hierarchy of AVOID-SHIFT-IMPROVE and to support climate change adaptation and plays a key role in identifying and addressing gaps in data, and in modelling the impacts of emissions and carbon reduction measures across the interconnected transport, economic and social systems.

Sectoral Adaptation

As well as work programmes to support climate change mitigation, the Climate Action Plan sets out integrated actions to progress and support crucial climate change adaptation actions. Through implementation of the statutory Transport Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan (T-SAP), which was published in 2019, the Department has progressed actions to increase Transport infrastructure resilience to climate change impacts across the three priority implementation objectives to:

Improve understanding of the impacts of climate change on transport infrastructure, including cross-sectoral cascading impacts, and close knowledge gaps through research and cross-sectoral collaboration;

Assist transport stakeholders in identifying and prioritising climate risks to existing and planned infrastructural assets and enabling them to implement adaptation measures accordingly;

Ensure that resilience to weather extremes and longer-term adaptation needs are considered in investment programmes for planned future transport infrastructure.

Preplanning and early-stage development for revision of the Transport Sectoral Adaptation Plan under the revised National Adaptation Framework has commenced in 2023 in line with the indicative CAP23 timeline of Q2 2025 for publication of a revised Plan. Implemented Plan revision development steps include stakeholder mapping, establishing a baseline ‘state of play’ for adaptation readiness under a pilot monitoring, reporting and evaluation framework, and holding a first meeting of key stakeholders who will be directly involved in steering and developing the revised plan.

Sustainable Mobility Policy

The new National Sustainable Mobility Policy (SMP) was published in April 2022 and aims to deliver at least 500,000 additional daily active travel and public transport journeys and a 10% reduction in kilometres driven by fossil-fuelled cars by 2030, in line with previous CAP21 commitments. These metrics have been superseded by updated targets in CAP23.

A Year One Progress Report detailing the status of SMP actions up to April 2023 was published in August of this year and may be found on Gov.ie. My Department also convened the National Sustainable Mobility Forum in Athlone, Co. Westmeath in April 2023.

My Department is developing a National Demand Management Strategy that will support the National Sustainable Mobility Policy, which will be aligned with the revised CAP23 targets.

To oversee delivery of the Sustainable Mobility Policy, officials in my Department established a Leadership Group. Under this Group, a Delivery Team identified 35 exemplar ‘pathfinder’ projects and initiatives to be delivered by 2025 that will champion sustainable mobility projects across the county.

A broad variety of projects were selected ranging from national game-changing proposals like making College Green in Dublin car-free or locating a brand-new integrated public and active travel hub, with a new bridge across the Suir River in Waterford City, to smaller, creative and equally effective projects like a Bus-it-2-school project in Co. Meath or a pilot programme in Co. Leitrim to integrate local link with a hackney and community e-bike scheme.

Two Pathfinder projects were completed in 2023: the Athlone Bus Electrification project and Smarter Travel Mark. Two further Pathfinder projects – the Longford Town Core Cycle Network and the Cork to Waterford Inter-Urban Demonstrator – have also had sections completed in 2023. In the case of Longford, the N63 Majors Well Road project has been completed and two further sections remain on track to be delivered by the end of 2024. Two sections of the Cork to Waterford Inter-Urban Demonstrator Pathfinder, namely Bilberry to Waterford City and Dunkettle to Carrigtohill, were completed in June 2023, with further sections due for completion in 2024 and 2025. This pathfinder is helping to create a seamless cycling link between Cork and Waterford.

Renewable Transport Fuel

Under our IMPROVE programme, the Renewable Transport Fuel Policy sets out the pathway to the achievement of Climate Action Plan targets and European obligations, as well as ensuring European sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction criteria are adhered to concerning renewable transport fuel.

This is implemented through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), provided for under Part 5A of the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 (as amended), which places an obligation on fuel suppliers to ensure that road transport fuel contains a proportion of renewable transport fuel.

I published the Renewable Fuels for Transport Policy Statement 2021-2023 in November 2021. The 2021 policy established the rates of the Renewable transport Fuel Obligation for 2022 at 13% (by volume) and 16% for the 2023 obligation period and contained policy actions for the ongoing implementation of the RTFO in the period. This has been supported through the enactment of enabling legislation and regulations, including RTFO rates, the award of RTFO certificates to incentivise the supply of certain renewable fuels, and the implementation of E10 petrol as standard. My Department ran an E10 petrol public information and awareness campaign through advertising since the regulations were enacted and the gov.ie/E10 website remains the main point of reference for further information.

The Renewable Transport Fuel Policy is reviewed every two years. My Department published the updated Renewable Transport Fuel Policy Statement 2023-2025 on 28 June 2023 achieving CAP23 action TR 23/63, following stakeholder engagement and consultation. The policy statement sets out specific policy actions over the next two years and includes an indicative trajectory out to 2030 for the increase in the rates of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation rate, Advanced Biofuel rate and rate of reduction for high-ILUC risk fuels. The policy continues to provide a framework for ongoing consultation, analysis and review towards meeting targets set out in the Climate Action Plan 2023 and European obligations for renewable energy supply for use in transport.

My Department has established working groups to support the implementation of renewable transport fuel policy actions on biofuel sustainability, meeting European targets for renewable transport energy share and to support the development of legislation. Supporting each of these working groups is the establishment of an expert panel to provide industry knowledge and insight with the first meeting held on 1 December.

Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation

My Department is responsible for coordination and negotiating favourable outcomes on the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation - part of the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ legislative package. This regulation, which was formally adopted and published in September, sets binding national targets across the Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) network for LDV and HDV electric vehicle charging points and alternative fuel refuelling points (e.g. hydrogen, liquefied methane), electric charging for stationary aircraft at airports and on-shore power supply for ships at ports.

My Department has also established an inter Departmental Working Group on Alternative Fuels for transport with the first meeting taking place on 29 September. The Working Group is to coordinate action by stakeholders with policy responsibility for alternative fuels in transport (encompassing zero-emissions energy and fuel, renewable fuel, and low carbon fuel as defined in the EU alternative fuel legislation) and related infrastructure and vehicle technology for alternative fuels in transport use, aligning with relevant national policy for future production of alternative fuels.

Cycling and Walking

The Programme for Government committed to cross-Government spending of around €360 million per annum for active travel measures throughout the lifetime of the Government. The majority of this funding comes from the Department of Transport and will contribute to the development of almost 1,000km of new and improved walking and cycling infrastructure across the country by 2025.

In 2023, €290 million has been made available to local authorities around the country through the National Transport Authority (NTA) to progress the delivery of approximately 1,200 walking and cycling projects across Ireland. This funding constitutes a significant increase on investment levels even a few years ago, with funding of €45 million invested in Active Travel in 2019. Actual spend on Active Travel infrastructure exceeded its 2022 allocation with an investment of €310 million made around the country, and investment in 2023 is likely to be even higher, with a forecasted spend of €340 million utilising funds from underspends elsewhere in the Department.

In tandem with their National Roads and Greenways projects, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) have also begun investing in Active Travel projects in areas outside the remit of the NTA. €12 million was allocated to TII in 2023 for such projects which link urban centres to major road projects. These projects, most of which are at early stages of development, include the Dunkettle Waterfront Cycleway in Cork, Active Travel linkages in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, and cycle path projects along the N2 in Monaghan. Active travel infrastructure is also incorporated, where possible, into major National Roads projects progressed by TII as part of their overall capital roads programme.

Greenways

In addition to the significant investment in Active Travel, €63 million is being invested in our Greenway network this year through TII, an increase of over €40 million based on 2019 funding levels. The number of Greenways in development in Ireland has increased from 13 in 2019, to over 70 projects currently underway.

National Cycle Network & CycleConnects

TII launched a public consultation on the development of a new National Cycle Network which was completed in Q2 2022. The plan comprises of a 3,500km network that will criss-cross the country, connecting more than 200 villages, towns and cities. The network will include cycling links to transport hubs, education centres, employment centres, leisure and tourist destinations, and support “last mile” bicycle deliveries. The National Cycle Network plan is due for publication shortly.

In tandem with the National Cycle Network, the NTA are developing CycleConnects which will outline planned cycling infrastructure investment within urban areas around the country. Proposals for intra-urban cycling links in key cities, towns and villages in each of the 22 counties outside the Greater Dublin Area are included in the plan. CycleConnects builds on the cycling plans already developed for the GDA and, together with the National Cycle Network, will create an overall comprehensive cycle network for Ireland. The draft CycleConnects plan is currently undergoing environmental assessment and is due for publication in early 2024. Active Travel teams are now in place in all 31 local authorities, with the number of dedicated staff for Active Travel projects increasing from 57 in January 2021 to around 240 across the country.

Safe Routes to Schools and other initiatives

The Safe Routes to Schools Initiative was established during 2021, with the first phase of 170 schools selected in June 2021, 167 of which remain actively engaged in the Programme. 108 additional schools were selected for inclusion in Round 2 of the Programme on 12 December 2022 which brought the total number of schools currently in SRTS to 275. As of 30 November 2023, projects at 33 schools have been completed with all remaining schools at various stages of progress through the Programme. In addition, all Active Travel projects progressed by the NTA aim to incorporate linkages to schools where possible, whether they are part of the SRTS programme or not.

My Department funds the delivery of CycleRight training through Cycling Ireland. The 2022 target of 28,000 pupils was exceeded with over 30,000 students receiving training under the CycleRight Programme, and it is expected that around 35,000 students will be trained in 2023, in line with the target in the National Sustainable Mobility Policy of an additional 5,000 students per annum completing the training. 2023 funding also includes an increased subvention for students in DEIS schools, which will number around 9,000 of the totals trained this year.

Thresholds under the Cycle to Work scheme have been increased in recent budgets to allow for the purchase of e-bikes and cargo bikes or e-bikes. The latter was included in the Finance Act following Budget 2023, with an allowance of up to €3,000 available for individuals to put towards the purchase of a cargo bike or cargo e-bikes.

Transport Infrastructure

Transport Planning

A revised Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) 2022-2042 was published by the NTA in January 2023 following my approval. The strategy sets out a statutory framework for transport investment across the region over a twenty-year period and provides a clear statement of transport planning policy for the GDA. The Transport Orientated Development (TOD) working group, which was established under the Government’s Housing for All plan and which is jointly led by my Department and the Department of Housing, published its report on TOD opportunities in Dublin in June 2023.

Metrolink

A significant milestone in the progression of the MetroLink project was cleared in July 2022, when Cabinet granted Decision Gate (DG) 1 approval under the Public Spending Code (PSC) to MetroLink. This decision enabled the project to move to planning application stage, and on 30 September, TII submitted a Railway Order application to An Bord Pleanála. The statutory planning consultation for the project closed on 16 January 2023. TII is currently preparing the Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy for MetroLink for consideration at Decision Gate 2 of the PSC. In July 2023, TII appointed a Client Partner, led by Turner & Townsend, to support the efficient and effective delivery of the next phases of the project.

DART Expansion

Government approved the Preliminary Business Case for the overall DART+ Programme in December 2021 allowing progression of DART+ West (at Decision Gate 1) and DART+ Fleet (at Decision Gate 3).

Light Rail

Dublin: The preliminary business case for the Luas Finglas project has been submitted to my Department by the NTA for review and I hope to bring this to Government in the coming months for approval in line with the Public Spending Code. This will enable the project to enter the statutory planning process through the submission of a Railway Order Application to An Bord Pleanála.

Cork: Work on identifying a precise route for Luas Cork is progressing well. In discussions with Cork City Council this summer, it was agreed that some additional work should be undertaken in relation to the city centre section prior to commencing the public consultation stage. TII, in collaboration with the NTA, are now undertaking that additional work, in consultation with Cork City Council. That task is likely to take a couple of months and it is now anticipated that the Emerging Preferred Route for Luas Cork will be published in the new year and a non-statutory public consultation process will then be undertaken.

Galway: The NTA, in conjunction with Galway City Council and Galway County Council are currently developing the Galway Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (GMATS), which will replace the 2016 Galway Transport Strategy. As part of GMATS, a feasibility study of light rail is being undertaken. This feasibility study has commenced, the baseline assessments have been concluded and Options Assessment is currently underway. The feasibility study will be completed before the end of 2023. It is anticipated that the public consultation on the draft GMATS will commence in early 2024, and the publication of the completed updated strategy will follow after a review and consideration of the public consultation responses.

Roads

At the start of 2023, €491 million in capital exchequer funding was allocated for investment in the national road network. €237 million was allocated for the progression of new national roads projects. This included a number of projects which were completed in 2023, including the N5 Westport to Turlough, the N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom, and the Moycullen bypass. In addition, a number of schemes are approaching construction, including the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy and N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge, with other NDP projects at an earlier stage of development continuing to be advanced. €254 million was invested in the protection and renewal of the existing national roads network, which includes measures to improve safety and meet the challenges of climate adaptation.

At the start of 2023, €626 million was allocated for investment in the regional and local road network, with about 90% directed to road maintenance and renewal and the balance for targeted road improvement schemes. Through the National Development Plan €70 million was allocated to road improvement projects including the completed Athy Southern Distributor Road along with current projects in construction such as Shannon Crossing / Killaloe Bypass/ R494 Upgrade and the Tralee Northern Relief Road together with the completion of advance/emergency works and the retender of the main construction contract related to the Coonagh to Knockalisheen Distributor Road. A range of regional and local road minor/safety improvement schemes and climate adaptation projects have also been implemented under the roads works programme.

Public Transport

Fares

The Young Adult Card was launched on Public Service Obligation (PSO) services on the 9 May 2022 enabling those aged between 19 and 23 to avail of an average 50% discount in their public transport fares. The Scheme was extended to participating commercial bus operators (CBOs) on 4 September 2022. Further, in October 2022, the Scheme was widened to include third level students aged 16 to 18.

As part of the suite of Cost-of-Living measures, in May 2022 Government introduced a 20% average fare reduction on all Public Service Obligation (PSO) public transport services.

As part of the total funding package of €563.55m that was secured for PSO and Local Link services under Budget 2023, funding was provided for the continuation of the Young Adult Card on both PSO and CBO services, and for the continuation of the 20% average fare discount on PSO services. More recently, under Budget 2024, a funding package of c. €613.463m has been secured for PSO and Local Link services. This includes funding for the continuation of the 20% fare reduction on PSO services, the Young Adult Card on both PSO and commercial bus services, and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2024. Funding has also been secured to support new and enhanced bus and rail services next year.

On 27 April 2023, the NTA published its National Fares Strategy for commuter and inter-urban journeys on Public Service Obligation (PSO) bus and rail services. Under this Strategy, changes introduced in future fares determinations will reflect a more consistent, equitable approach, and one that is easier to understand for customers. The NTA aims to publish the Fares Determination before shortly.

Connecting Ireland & Rural Mobility

A consultation report regarding the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan was published on 3 May 2022.

Throughout 2022, Phase 1 of the Plan delivered 38 new and enhanced bus services. The revisions were implemented on routes and service serving areas in counties Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Clare, Sligo, Kildare, Offaly, Mayo and Wexford.

Routes identified through the Connecting Ireland consultation process were prioritised to provide emergency public transport services to people fleeing the war in Ukraine and housed in rural or isolated locations to ensure better access to our local communities. This continues to be achieved through an acceleration of network improvements, including additional stops, route modifications, and more services with the aim to increase connectivity.

In February 2023, Phase 2 of Connecting Ireland was launched, with 67 new and enhanced bus services announced for implementation across 2023.

The Rural Transport Programme, now operating under the TFI Local Link brand, provides scheduled and demand responsive public transport services in rural areas nationwide. There has been a substantial increase in funding for TFI Local Link services going from €12 million in 2016 to over €42 million in 2023. The additional funding has enabled the introduction of 100 new Rural Regular Service routes operating at least 5 times per day over a 5,6,7 days per week schedule. They are specifically designed to ensure connectivity with other public transport services and better linkage of services between and within towns and villages.

Buses

Much work has also progressed in relation to BusConnects.

Ongoing work including commencement of preliminary design work for Core Bus Corridors in Cork and enhanced bus signal priority at signalised junctions is included in all plans for the BusConnects Dublin Core Bus Corridors and in the other cities. The procurement process for the Next Generation Ticketing project has commenced.

No new diesel-only buses have been purchased for the PSO bus fleet since 2019. By the end of 2023, it is expected that there will be 454 low or zero-emission buses in the national bus fleet, out of a total fleet of 1,765 buses.

Electric bus purchases for 2024 includes the purchase of circa 70 new double-deck electric buses for Dublin and 101 new double-deck electric buses for outside Dublin, covering Limerick, Galway and Cork.

Decarbonisation of Road Transport

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a prominent mitigation measure in Ireland’s 2021 Climate Action Plan and we have set an ambitious target of nearly one million EVs on our roads by 2030. As of November 2023, there are just over 109,000 on our roads.

In addition, while a national ambition has been firmly established that by 2030 all new cars and vans sold in Ireland will be zero-emission capable, EU Member States are unable to move unilaterally on the introduction of a fossil-fuelled car ban by 2030. Ireland is already a signatory to a non-paper to the European Commission requesting a phase-out date for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in the EU in line with the objective of climate neutrality by 2050 as well as the introduction of a legal framework that allows Member States to move ahead by taking action at national level to incentivise early phase-out of new petrol and diesel cars and vans.

In January this year, the national Strategy for the development of EV charging infrastructure was launched, covering the crucial period out to 2025, alongside an Implementation Plan. The strategy sets out the government’s ambition regarding the delivery of a public EV charging network to support up to 195,000 electric cars and vans by the middle of the decade.

The National Strategy is being expanded upon to create bespoke EV infrastructure plans which will set out the process for delivery and rollout of a variety of charging infrastructure models.

In 2023 two funding schemes were launched to support the roll out of EV Charging Infrastructure:

The Shared Island Sports Club scheme. with €15M funding, opened to applications across the island. Over 600 clubs applied to ZEVI via Pobal to have an EV charger installed in their grounds. Just under 300 are currently being evaluated for selection. The evaluation phase is due to conclude in Q1 2024.

A €15 million scheme under the EU Just Transition fund was launched by ZEVI in August. The Scheme aims to create a network of publicly accessible community focused fast charging points across the midlands.

These actions, as well as a suite of related programmes across both ZEVI and its stakeholders and partners, will ensure that the rollout of EV charging is not only compliant with our national and EU obligations, but also provides charging infrastructure which meets the needs of users regardless of their vehicle type, their geographic location or their specific demand for charging.

A range of grants and incentives continue to be available to drivers making the switch to an EV, both privately and commercially. New incentives established since 2020 include:

The Alternatively-Fuelled Heavy-Duty Vehicle (AFHDV) Purchase Grant Scheme – launched in 2021 to promote the decarbonisation of the heavy-duty sector, and to assist road transport companies to transition from fossil fuels. The Scheme supports the purchase of new large vans, trucks, buses and coaches. Since the AFHDV Scheme was launched in 2021, we have paid out a total of €2.8M on 22 applications grant aiding 36 heavy duty vehicles. In 2024, the scheme will be replaced with the Zero Emissions Heavy Duty Vehicle Purchase grant scheme.

The EV Commercial Fleet Trial - launched 21 July 2022 to afford businesses the opportunity to test an EV free of charge for a minimum period of 3 months. Its purpose is to show, through real world evidence, the benefits, savings and the suitability and viability of EVs in a commercial setting. A report on the trial scheme is expected in 2024.

The apartment charger grant - assists residents and owners of apartments and other multi-unit developments who want to install a home charger for their Electric Vehicle (EV). 49 grant applications have been received with 28 grant offers issued.

It is anticipated that all necessary e-scooter regulations will be in place in Q1 2024 – Commencement Order, Technical and Usage, Detention of E-scooters (powers for AGS), Use of Powered Personal Transporters (only permitting e-scooters and no other form of PPT), Traffic & Parking, Signs and Fixed Charge Notice regulations.

Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

In 2022, Ireland became a signatory to the Global Memorandum of Understanding on Zero Emission Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles, which targets a new sales share of 30 percent for zero emission trucks and buses that are 3.5 tonnes or over by 2030.