Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The commitment to develop a National Demand Management Strategy for transport was included in the Climate Action Plan 2023 (CAP23). In April 2023, Government noted the approach to developing the Strategy, which included the establishment of a cross-governmental Steering Group chaired by the Department of Transport. The first meeting of the Group took place in May 2023 and included the following members:

• The Department of Finance
• The Department of the Taoiseach
• The Department of Public Expenditure, Reform and NDP Delivery
• The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
• The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
• The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
• The Department of Education
• Representation from the Regional Assemblies
• Representation from the County and City Management Association (CCMA)
• National Transport Authority
• Transport Infrastructure Ireland

My Department also engaged extensively with a number of other departments including the Department of Health, the Department of Further Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Rural and Community Development.

Six expert subgroups of the Steering Group were also created to consider and recommend initiatives across key focus areas including (1) Integrated Land Use and Transport Planning; (2) Optimal Use of Space; (3) Fiscal Measures; (4) Generators of Demand - Movement of People; (5) Generators of Demand - Movement of Goods; (6) Captive Car Users. The latter was established to integrate the principle of Just Transition. These comprised stakeholders from Government departments and agencies, local authorities, industry, academia, and NGOs. Over 100 stakeholders, from 57 organisations, were involved in the work of these subgroups, spanning those areas most impacted by the Strategy

A draft Strategy has now been prepared and will be the subject of a public consultation and further stakeholder engagement, pending the approval of Government in the coming weeks. Following the conclusion of the consultation, the draft will be re-submitted to Government for final approval later in 2024. For this reason, it is not intended that the recommendations from the National Demand Management Strategy will be included in CAP24.