New data shows 2:1 public transport vs road funding split started to be met in 2024

A promise by the outgoing Government to spend more on new public transport than new road infrastructure with a 2:1 split was started to be met in 2024, data provided by the Department of Transport has shown.

It has been widely reported that the incoming government has dropped 2:1 ratio and promised increased road spending. The ringfenced funding for active travel, which was separate from the roads vs public transport funding, has also been dropped. Meanwhile, the new government is promising more consultation for pedestrian and cycling projects, including safe routes to school.

The uncertainty for public transport funding comes as large-scale bus and rail projects have recently gained or are expected to soon gain planning approval. The 2:1 split was supported to allow public transport to catch up on decades of under-investment and look to reach the legally-binding 2030 target of reducing emissions compared to 2018 by 50%.

The 2020 Programme for Government, agreed to between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens, said: “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.”

It added: “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.”

The data provided today by the Department of Transport to IrishCycle.com is insufficient to evaluate if the 2:1 commitment was reached over the lifetime of the Government.

The Department also said the split was met in the funding allocation for 2025 but warned that there can be a fluctuation from year-to-year and “emerging cost pressures” with large national roads projects reaching stages where funding has to be paid out.

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A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said: “In the National Development Plan 2021, the two-to-one ratio was constructed over a multi-annual basis, reflecting the nature of major infrastructure development, and relates to expenditure on new projects/programmes only in the public transport and roads programmes; protection and renewal of existing infrastructure was excluded.”

“National Development Plan 2021 provided for two multi-annual funding periods – 2021 to 2025 and 2026 to 2030 – and the ratio was constructed separately for each five-year period,” the spokesperson said.

The department spokesperson continued: “The ratio needed to both reflect project/programme status at the time of its development (i.e. projects/programmes in construction require funding first and foremost) and also retain the flexibility required to respond to emerging demands in project/programme costs which can, and do, fluctuate from year-to-year given emerging cost pressures with a number of big national roads projects hitting particular construction milestones in 2025 for example.”

Table 1

Year20212022202320242025**
New Public Transport : Roads Ratio1:1*1:1*1:1*2:1*2:1*

*Rounding applied
**Forecasts

The Department provided actual expenditure from 2021 to 2023 as per the table below, but the data for actual expenditure in euro values is not provided “for 2024 as accounts for that year have not yet been audited and for 2025 as the Oireachtas has not yet voted on the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2025.”

Table 2

New Expenditure €m202120222023
Public Transport438403443
Total Roads (new)342350307

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