— Programme for Government promises a 2:1 split on public transport vs roads.
The Government would be breaking its Programme for Government commitment if any of the Apple tax is planned to be spent on roads without twice as much being spent on public transport, a campaign group has said.
As IrishCycle.com reported last week, the 2:1 split on public transport vs roads has yet to be met by the Government. The Department of Transport said that it was a commitment over the lifetime of the Government, and it could not confirm if the Budget 2025 would fulfil the commitment.
The Department also confirmed that the public transport split in funding is calculated outside of the €350m per year active travel budget, which is a separate Programme for Government commitment.
Jason Cullen, chairperson of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, said that the group was very disappointed to hear the reports that the Government will be allocating a portion of the €14 billion Apple tax money to spending on ‘roads’ without any reference to public transport spending.
While covering how Tánaiste Micheál Martin believes that a “very significant allocation” of the €14bn Apple tax revenue should be spent on water, the Irish Independent reported yesterday that “The Government already agreed in principle to invest the €14bn Apple tax revenue in housing, roads and water infrastructure.”
The Taoiseach Simon Harris said he wanted the spending from the Apple tax to be outlined on Budget day, on October 1st.
Cullen said: “The Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Green Party Government has committed to spending on sustainable transport at a rate of two-to-one against roads. The additional windfall of the Apple tax money is very welcome, and could allow us to address some of the significant gaps in our public and active transport networks.”
“New Luas lines for Finglas, Lucan, and Poolbeg are within the Dublin transport strategy 2024, and could be brought forward to alleviate transport demands in the Capital. The initially planned Luas Green line upgrade to Metro Standard could be reinstated, or the actions of the All Ireland Strategic Rail Review could be enacted,” he said.
Cullen said that councils around the country have also “been fighting for every Euro they can get towards safe cycling routes and greenways” and that “any additional funding that can be provided to active transport can seriously alleviate congestion issues, especially during the school run.”
Referring to the effect known as ‘induced demand’, he said: “No amount of additional lanes of traffic have ever provided a long-term solution for congestion, as traffic will always expand to fill available space.”
He said that with a growing population and legally binding climate reduction targets, that the Dublin Commuter Coalition sees it as “vital” that the Government are “delivering sustainable transport infrastructure, rather than propagating a continued over-reliance on the private car.”
Cullen added: “The Dublin Commuter Coalition would like to remind Government of their commitments on two-to-one spending for sustainable transport, we would like to point out that one off tax windfalls are included within that commitment, and that we look forward to the announcement of new active, or public transport projects as a result of the €14 billion Apple tax money.”