Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
36. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to reverse cuts to the cycling budget over the past two years; his plans to publish a statutory instrument to enact a minimum passing distance; and if the national greenway strategy will be published. [25612/18]
View answerIt is National Bike Week and I ask the Minister to give a commitment to reverse the cuts to the cycling infrastructure budget he has implemented over the past two years, to outline a definitive timeframe as to when he will publish the statutory instrument to enact the minimum passing distance, and to give a clear timeframe as to when the national greenway strategy will be published.
In regard to funding, I have no doubt the Deputy will welcome the increases I have secured over the 2018 to 2021 period. More than €110 million allocated will be allocated to develop cycling and walking infrastructure in the greater Dublin area, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. In addition, I have also secured funding of €135 million over the same period for sustainable transport projects in the five cities. These projects will also improve, directly and indirectly, both the cycling and walking infrastructure in them, and the efficiency and safety of their existing infrastructure.
In addition, the significant investment planned in the BusConnects programme will also deliver an extensive new network of cycle lanes, greatly improving the safety of our cyclists. My Department also spends in excess of €2.5 million per annum on behavioural programmes to encourage a modal shift and to increase safety and awareness among all road users.
In regard to the minimum passing distance, draft regulations providing for an amendment to article 10 of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 were submitted to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for consideration and settling. As that process identified a number of complex issues, legal advice was sought within the Office of the Attorney General. The Department is currently giving consideration to that advice and will shortly engage with the Attorney General's office to resolve outstanding issues. The Deputy has a particular interest in this and I will keep in touch with him.
My Department is currently finalising the national greenway strategy and I expect to publish it in the coming weeks. The strategy will provide a framework for the development of Ireland's greenways ensuring the best possible return for State investment. Furthermore, the strategy will determine the type of project that will be funded over the coming decade by my Department and will set out guidance and options for project promoters in regard to the challenges faced in delivering greenway infrastructure. It will also emphasise the need for early and wide consultation by project promoters with communities and affected landowners.
The Minister's commitment to cycling over the past number of years has been questionable. According to a reply to another of my parliamentary questions, funding in 2015 was just shy of €19 million while last year it was just shy of €17 million, a reduction of approximately €11 million at a time Cycling Ireland membership increased by 720% and, according to Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures, there was an increase of 42.8% in the number of people cycling to work between 2011 and 2016.
On the minimum passing distance, the Minister referred to legal advice from the Attorney General's office on the statutory instrument. He was aware of this proposal because it was made by his own colleagues, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, more than 18 months ago. He procrastinated about it and did not act to implement it for almost 18 months. It was only when I tabled an amendment to the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017 that he decided to do something about it. He made a solemn promise that he would introduce this within weeks when he held a press conference three months ago and it is disappointing that he has not honoured that.
The Minister referred to the funding that will be made available between 2018 and 2021. Who will ensure this funding is adequately spent because the fiasco regarding the proposed cycle route along the Liffey quays raises questions as to whether there is capacity to roll out this funding?
I accept fully what the Deputy said about cycling. I do not question his commitment to cycling and if he says I was slow about implementing the statutory instrument, I will accept that criticism in some ways. I am a convert to cycling. I took some time to be converted to the urgency not only for the imperative of the modal shift, which must be more dramatic, but also for all the bells and whistles that go with that shift. I am convinced of the need to not only protect our cyclists but to encourage people to get out of their cars and on to bicycles, and that is working. It may not be working fast enough for the Deputy but it will accelerate during my tenure.
On the suggestions the Deputy has made, I am not in any way hesitant to say that I was not persuaded of the need for the minimum passing distance by a large number of the groups led by Phil Skelton and others. I was being educated and I have been converted to the need to transfer people to bicycles and to protect them.
I welcome the fact that the Minister acknowledges that but now that he is a convert, will he get on and do his job? He should not mind the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017. He should look after his own Department. He has responsibility to ensure that this statutory instrument is published without delay. If he spent more time focusing on his own area of responsibility, it might have been published by now. Fifteen cyclists lost their lives last year while six have lost their lives so far this year. It is imperative that this statutory instrument be published and enacted without delay.
On the additional funding, I welcome the fact that the Minister will reverse cuts he made in the past two years.
What percentage of the funding for BusConnects will be ring-fenced for cycling? In light of the fiasco relating to the Liffey quays cycling route, about which a Fine Gael councillor said, "We have made a complete balls of how we’ve managed this from day one", what action will the Minister take because he has not shown any leadership in that regard? How will he ensure that the proposed new cycling routes will be progressed without unnecessary delays?
It is appropriate that the Deputy welcomed the fact that I am committed to cycling, and it is something on which we can move forward and co-operate.
The issue of BusConnects and cycling is important. I would not like the message to be lost, and I would hate it to be lost on the Deputy, that BusConnects is a massive vehicle for improving the lot of cyclists in this and other cities.
There will be 200 km of dedicated cycle lanes as a result of BusConnects.
Ten years.
There is no point in muttering when it will happen. It is a serious commitment and it will benefit future generations. It is a permanent commitment to cycling and walking. That is what is so important about it. The bus situation is one element of it, but perhaps a more important one is the message that one cannot build bus lanes of this nature without also accommodating the cyclists. That commitment is made and is absolutely evident. It will guarantee a future for cyclists in the city.
A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the Minister has not even answered the question I asked about the percentage of funding that will be allocated.
I have no control over that.
Can the Minister answer that question? He cannot because he does not know.
I have no control over the answers. You can draw your own conclusions. I cannot.
