Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
271. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will address a matter (details supplied) in relation to a commitment in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20740/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to sustainable mobility and the Deputy will acknowledge that the Programme for Government – Our Shared Future makes a strong commitment to fundamentally change the nature of transport in Ireland. To deliver on this will require a whole-of-system perspective across all modes of transport – including active travel, bus, and rail.
I welcome the Deputy’s support for the specific Programme for Government commitment he refers to in his question and look forward to his thoughts on best it can be delivered. The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government states that the commitment will be developed through the Department of the Taoiseach and will be informed by a group of experts from the public service, academia, NGOs and the private sector. The work will also be informed by the experience of other jurisdictions that have already developed similar measures in recent years. I look forward to that work commencing and the development of the measures of wellbeing and progress in due course.
At a policy level in transport, the primary objective is to embed long-term strategic transport planning and provide the type of longer term horizon required to deliver better outcomes. I think that objective complements very well the type of work envisaged through the development of new measures of wellbeing and progress as committed to in the Programme for Government.
One jurisdiction that has developed similar such measures of wellbeing in recent years is New Zealand and I note that one of their ‘neighbourhood and environmental’ indicators is “ease of access to public transport”. The multi-modal approach toward accessing accessibility explicit in that indicator captures very well the multi-modal approach adopted by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in its development of the first ever Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2016 to 2035 and that multi-modal approach will again be evident in the NTA's forthcoming review of the Strategy which, I understand, will commence later this year. The Strategy is a statutory document and its review will be conducted in line with the statutory requirements of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 (as amended). In line with the commitments given in the existing Strategy, I can assure the Deputy that the possibility of a heavy rail link to Navan will be reviewed by the NTA in line with its statutory obligations.
