— Commitment of having 2:1 funding split between public transport and new roads still not reached months ahead of the general election.
Positive mention of a yet-to-be-achieved funding Government commitment in a recently released climate action report card has been questioned.
The report card, which Friends of the Earth Ireland commissioned, found that the Government had just “scraped a B-grade” across all sectors.
Overall, the Friends of the Earth report said that the Government has “turned a corner away from our ‘climate laggard’ origins”, but it also said that “The commitments in their programme for government were not enough to achieve a truly sustainable society or meet our national and international climate targets”.
On transport, the report card said: “Perhaps the most significant commitment this Government achieved in transport is to retain a 2:1 funding commitment to public and active transport over road development.”
Brian Caulfield, Professor in Transportation at the Department of Civil Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, told IrishCycle.com that the scorecard may need to be revised because of this.
Caulfield said: “I wasn’t aware that we had reached the 2:1 ratio, the supporting document cites a statement on budget day. I don’t see any evidence to support the fact that this ratio has actually been achieved as cited in the score card. Perhaps the transport score may need to be revisited.”
Friends of the Earth has, however, stood over the phrasing of the report card and took issue with the idea that it implies that the Government has reached or achieved its target.
Oisín Coghlan, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said that the report card doesn’t actually say the commitment was reached or achieved.
To quote the report card again: “Perhaps the most significant commitment this Government achieved in transport is to retain a 2:1 funding commitment to public and active transport over road development”
Coghlan said: “So whether you or I like it or not, what the independent judges are commending the Government for is adopting and retaining a commitment to a 2:1 ratio (and making progress towards it) not for actually achieving that ratio. The ‘achievement’ in the Report Card sentence is the commitment not that actual spending ratio.”
So, in other words, Friends of the Earth are saying that the report card highlights — just months from an expected general election — that the “most significant commitment this Government achieved in transport” is to stick with, but not yet achieve, the Government’s own Programme for Government commitment made in 2020.
Dr Cara Augustenborg, who led the team of academics who worked on the report for Friends of the Earth, said that their report said “to retain a 2:1 funding commitment” and she said this “is not the same as” stating that the commitment was “reached” or “achieved”.
Dr Augustenborg, in an email response provided by Coghlan, said: “The numbers outlined in the compendium (and below) show a significant portion of the overall transport budget is being spent on public and active transport infrastructure. Getting exact figures was beyond the scope of this exercise (given there were 277 other commitments to evaluate too and it would probably require an FoI request).”
She added: “But the judges generally felt that a lot more money is being allocated to public and active transport than ever before, so the 2:1 commitment is certainly not being ignored by the Government and is thus ‘retained’ was considered an appropriate word. Also, note that the 2:1 commitment excludes road maintenance/safety expenses and is just related to new projects but numbers below don’t have that level of granularity, unfortunately.”
The following is from the report card’s compendium:
2021-2023 Progress: In Budget 2020, €3.5 billion was allocated to the Department of Transport, 51% of which was allocated for “sustainable transport”. In 2022, the 10-year National Development Plan allocated €35 billion out of €165 billion to transport projects planned to the end of the decade. Budget 2023 maintained the €3.5 billion investment with the goal of more accessible and greener transport across the country. However, Minister Ryan stated the Government was “too slow” in achieving a 2:1 expenditure ratio for public transport infrastructure versus new roads due to pushback given the current state of some roads in the country.
2024 Progress: Budget 2024 continued its allocation of €3.5 billion to the Department of Transport with approximately €1.6 billion (45%) allocated to public infrastructure investment and services: €613 million for public service obligations and local link services, and €971 million for public transport investment. About €1.2 billion was allocated to road networks and road safety: €228 million for national and regional road construction, €840 million for the protection and renewal of roads, and €97 million for private contractors
From the ‘Compendium on the status of environmental commitments made in Ireland’s 2020 Programme for Government’ which was written in July 2024 and was comissioned by Friends of the Earth.
IrishCycle.com asked the Department of Transport to confirm if the Government’s commitment to a 2:1 funding split between public transport and road development has been achieved. The Department of Transport — in an email response — was clear that the commitment to spend 2:1 in favour of public transport vs new roads is separate from the commitment to active travel.
In its reply, the Department quoted how the Programme for Government states: “In relation to new transport infrastructure, the Government is committed to a 2:1 ratio of expenditure between new public transport infrastructure and new roads over its lifetime. This ratio will be maintained in each Budget by the Government. In the event of an underspend on roads, this will not impact on public transport spending.”
A spokesperson from the Department of Transport confirmed that the commitment to spend 20% of the transport infrastructure budget on pedestrian and cycling infrastructure (set at €360 million based on 20% of the 2020 budget) is separate from the public transport vs roads commitment.
The spokesperson said: “Ringfenced capital funding of €360m for cycling and walking has been provided in each budget. The 2:1 ratio between new public transport infrastructure and new roads is a separate funding commitment to investment in cycling and walking and was structured over the five year term of the Government and is being achieved through progressive adjustments to funding allocations in each successive budget.”
When asked to clarify if the commitment has been met, the Department of Transport was unable or unwilling to state if the commitment has been met.
A spokesperson said: “As previously outlined, the 2:1 ratio was structured over the five-year term of the Government and is being achieved through progressive adjustments to NDP funding allocations in each successive budget.”
“The ratio has varied from year to year, with more recent years demonstrating investment in new public transport in excess of the 2:1 ratio, and earlier years with new public transport investment levels below the ratio,” they said.
The Department’s spokesperson added: “The budget for capital investment in 2025, and projects to be funded under it, is currently being determined as part of the budgetary process.”
