I propose to take Questions Nos. 51 and 52 together.
The Deputy is aware that significant additional financial resources have been available to local authorities since the establishment of the Government as evidenced by the July Stimulus measures, the additional allocations made available under Budget 2021 and the establishment of a new active travel fund as part of those Budgetary allocations which will be managed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and is specifically targeted at those local authorities, such as Longford, that traditionally have not had access to dedicated active travel funding.
In addition to these additional allocations of funding, there is also work underway in relation to the development of new strategies / programmes and of particular relevance in this respect is the new Road Safety Strategy and the proposed Safe Routes to School Programme.
The Road Safety Authority is now well advanced with work on the new Road Safety Strategy. In line with commitments in the Programme for Government, it will particularly target the needs of vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, whether walking to school or otherwise. I look forward to the completion of this Strategy, which will run from 2021 to 2030 and provide us with a basis to make a safer environment for all, and particularly for those who choose healthy and non-polluting forms of travel.
In relation to Safe Routes to School, the Deputy is aware of the commitment in the Programme for Government to establish such a programme and I know Minister of State Naughton has been meeting with relevant stakeholders as we look to progress that commitment and develop the Programme.
All of this activity sits within the broader Programme for Government and its commitment to allocate €1.8bn toward active travel over the lifetime of the Government. I recognise that a complementary aspect to this increased expenditure is ensuring that local authorities are adequately resourced in terms of their institutional capacity to deliver this increased ambition and proposals are under consideration in that regard in line with the Programme for Government commitment in relation to same.