I thank Senator Boyhan for his input on the RZLT. As I noted earlier, this new tax is one of a range of measures in Housing for All, the Government's housing strategy, and is intended to prompt the development of housing. While the demand for housing is greatest in urban centres, there is also housing need in many other parts of the country, as we are all aware. The zoning of land by local authorities reflects the housing need in an area and only residentially zoned and serviced land will be subject to this tax. I …

I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for raising this important matter. I know she has been working on it for many years with Oireachtas colleagues. As the Senator is aware, the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 was signed into law by the President on 23 June last. This is wide-ranging legislation that introduces enforceable variable speed limits. It creates a new public body, namely, Zero Emissions Vehicles Ireland. It also introduces a new vehicle category of powered personal transporter to allow for the legal use of e-scoo…

I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for her wider advocacy on this very important issue for many urban areas across Dublin and elsewhere. I am also glad of the opportunity to clarify the enforcement of road safety legislation regarding scramblers. The Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 is wide-ranging and has important implications in a number of areas. The Government agrees that the antisocial use of scramblers is an important issue. This is why we are glad to report to Senators today that provisions in the Act that empower …

I thank the Cathaoirleach and Senator O’Loughlin for raising this important Commencement matter, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue with Members of the House today. I also want to acknowledge the Senator's consistent advocacy for this on behalf of constituents and also in connecting the local campaign with the Government and with the National Transport Authority who are progressing this. The Senator's question is on the implementation of the national fares strategy 2023 and how this will benefit co…

I wish to reassure Senator O'Loughlin that the Government is strongly committed to delivering a cost-efficient and sustainable public transport network and the review of existing fare structures has a key role to play in achieving those goals. The rationale for implementing the new national fares strategy is to remove the current inconsistencies in the existing fare structure which the Senator has highlighted. As we all know this can be frustrating for public transport users. She is correct when she says that when …

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address this issue and discuss park-and-ride facilities. In my constituency of Dublin West that has a population including many Cavan people, I am aware from engaging with people who are commuting and have family members of the importance of this to the people in Cavan. There are a substantial number of people in regional towns, the rural hinterland and, to a lesser extent, in the metropolitan area who do not have ease of access to high-quality public transport, either thro…

The Deputy’s contribution speaks to the need for wider investment in transport. From a public transport perspective, part of that is delivering greater rail and other infrastructure. The all-island rail review is the starting point for the wider vision we have on rail. To complement that, we must continue investment in roads infrastructure. We must make sure junctions and road infrastructure in towns and villages is made safer and we must promote road safety as a core part of roads investment. That is something we …

I have been asked to respond on behalf of the Minister for Health. It is up to the Deputies.

The Department of Transport has secured €3.5 billion to fund projects and programmes run under our remit in 2024. This has been a budget focused on investing in young people and families. This theme is apparent in the package that has been provided to continue many of the public transport affordability measures for families and young adults. The 50% discount for those with a young adult card has been extended for two more years and will benefit 24-year-olds and 25-year-olds. These additional cuts come alongside the…

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There has been a worrying rise in road fatalities this year, with August the worst month on Irish roads since June 2012. There have been 136 fatalities on our roads this year, an increase of 23 on the same period last year. Almost 850 people have also been seriously injured in collisions. This is unacceptable. My Department, the Road Safety Authority, RSA, An Garda Síochána and other road safety partners are taking this matter seriously and working closely to improve the situation on our roads. The Government’s roa…

The evidence from the RSA shows that more than a small minority of people are speeding. Unfortunately, that is the case. We know that excessive speed continues to be a leading contributory factor in fatal and serious injury collisions in Ireland. Reducing speed has been fundamentally proven to significantly reduce the risk of death or serious injuries in road collisions. The WHO has estimated that a 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% reduction in fatal collisions. Furthermore, the evidence shows th…

As the Deputy said, the infrastructure plays a key role in improving road safety. That, complemented with a reduction in speed limits will play an important role in reducing fatalities on our roads. The current default baseline of 80 km/h for local or rural roads is completely out of sync with what the appropriate speed should be on such roads. We welcome constructive input from all Members to try to get the speedy implementation of the legislation by our colleagues and local authorities so this can be quickly prog…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which to my mind has two fundamental aspects. The first is education and awareness, as suggested by the Deputy, and the second is improvements on the ground around schools. I am glad that good progress has been made in regard to both aspects. The Deputy will probably be aware of the Your Journey Counts campaign, which is a multi-platform integrated advertising campaign across TV, radio, print, out-of-home, digital and social advertising. While not directed solely at school…

As I stated, as part of the wider public engagement and communications strategy, we will be highlighting the issues the Deputy raised. They merit expansion, in particular the issues relating to idling at school gates. We must accelerate the infrastructure delivery of the Safe Routes to School programme as a preventative measure so that within 200 m of schools, as the Deputy mentioned, we can address the core safety issues that arise outside many schools by alleviating congestion and improving safety and air quality…

I thank both Deputies. The evidence is clear. An excessive number of trips to and around schools will have an impact on overall air quality. The science is clear on that. That is why we have to work with communities and partner with them to provide safe routes to schools. We must provide a safe alternative for families and children. If we look at the last 30 years, we are all aware of the data from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, showing that we had a very positive story to tell in the 1970s and the 1980s when …

I have engaged with the management of An Post on five occasions since I was appointed late last year. In addition to regular engagement between my office and An Post, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, last spoke formally to the CEO of An Post on Wednesday, 5 July at a meeting held in Leinster House. There is frequent and ongoing engagement with An Post management and staff at official level on all matters of mutual interest. This includes regular scheduled quarterly meetings and governance meetings, in addition to a…

I appreciate the Deputy raising this matter. We briefly discussed it this week and, following that discussion, my office has engaged with An Post on the issue of publicity post. An Post informs me that it offers a publicity post service that allows businesses, charities and other organisations to have material delivered with the regular post. As the Deputy said, the service is split into 272 separate delivery areas, which can be used to deliver leaflets to a specific area to better target geographical areas. It has…

I thank the Deputy and I appreciate what he has said. There are clearly discrepancies with respect to the feedback which has been given to him. We have engaged with An Post overnight and this morning. It is something I will raise with the company when I meet it again at the next formal engagement. I will try to get some of the history and backdrop to the publicity post service and the separate delivery areas which are there. Now that we have discussed the matter in the Chamber, I ask the Deputy to send me some spec…

I am pleased to be in the Seanad today to update all Members on road safety and current progress against actions within the Government's road safety strategy for the period from 2021 to 2030. This is an opportunity for me to hear Members' perspectives on a matter of grave concern to us all. It is with a heavy heart that I acknowledge the tragic loss of life on Ireland's roads in 2023. From 1 January to 26 September, there were 136 fatalities on Irish roads. This is 26 more deaths compared to the same period in 2022…