Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2023
186. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide his and/or the NTAs rationale for the discrepancy in funding for active travel office staff costs across the four Dublin local authorities for 2023. [34376/23]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to Active Travel. Funding is administered through the National Transport Authority (NTA), who, in partnership with local authorities (LAs), have responsibility for the selection and development of specific projects in each local authority area.
Dublin City Council has been allocated a higher number of Active Travel staff funded by the Department of Transport than the other three local authorities in Dublin due to the number of projects to be delivered in the city centre and the relating overall funding allocation, which is the highest of all allocations around the country. In addition, recruitment levels have varied across all local authorities, with difficulties in both hiring and retention cited as an issue for many councils, particularly in urban areas, who have struggled to meet their full staffing allocation.
The variance in funding levels for active travel staff costs across the four Dublin local authorities in 2023 reflect the reasoning outlined above. All local authorities have received assurance from my Department and the NTA that if the full staffing allocation is filled, adequate funding will be provided to maintain these staff levels until 2025 at the earliest. Ensuring delivery of safe and high quality active travel infrastructure is a key priority of Government and the additional staffing allocations should provide capacity within local authorities to achieve this aim.
