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Minister Eamon Ryan TD: Four pillars of sustainable transport With the transport sector accounting for 20 per cent of CO2 emissions in Ireland, it is vital to ensure that the sector experiences fundamental change if Ireland is to reach its net zero commitments, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan TD highlights, calling it an “unprecedented challenge but one we cannot ignore”.
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Transitioning Ireland’s transport system comes with the advantage of reducing the country’s dependence on imported oil and gas, the Minister outlines, adding: “Ireland, as one of the most import-dependent countries in the world of fossil fuels, has to make that key switch towards renewable-powered vehicles.”
“Compact development is something that is going to require the leadership of the Department of Transport, in what we are calling ‘transport-led development’, where you provide the public with transport infrastructure, particularly in advance of any new housing development,” he asserts.
The Government’s plan to solve the housing crisis is a significant factor in reimagining Ireland’s transport network. He explains that the plan to do this requires more balanced regional development, guided by the National Planning Framework, which will lead to further investment in the greater Dublin area, as well as a sharp increase in investment in Cork, Galway, Waterford, and Limerick, with compact development in the smaller cities, as well as rural areas, key to achieving this.
This will require the Government to give “key indicators to local authorities” to ensure the sustainability of the transport modes around any new housing developments, whilst advocating that new housing should be built “closely to the centre of existing settlements” in order to reduce costs in electricity, water treatments, and reliance on private cars as a mode of transport.
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