Minister’s Foreword

This report marks the end of the third year of the National Sustainable Mobility Policy (SMP) and its accompanying Action Plan, which was published in April 2022, setting out a highly ambitious and detailed series of over 90 actions to be completed by the end of 2025 to improve and expand sustainable mobility options across the country. The Action Plan will have addressed or delivered close to 70% of actions by year end, with substantial progress made on others, from the new electric buses now appearing across our cities and towns to the major strides that are being made in constructing new walking and cycling infrastructure. My thanks to all the many stakeholders involved in delivering on this plan to date and their ongoing commitment to achieving its vision of a connected and sustainable transport network across the country.

Rural mobility is also being enhanced through new initiatives, such as the recently launched SMART Demand Responsive Transport pilot projects in Achill and Killarney, which provides a tailored solution to the transport needs of rural communities. Meanwhile, and as committed to in the Programme for Government, the successful pilot programme in Leitrim to integrate public, disability and health transport services is now being mainstreamed. The Government is committed to expanding on these projects to build a transport system that serves every corner of the country, and leaves no one behind.

Accessibility and inclusion are critical objectives in the SMP. This report highlights the progress achieved to date in addressing the gaps in service provision while acknowledging that there is still significant further investment required.

The Government will further build on this progress through a new SMP Action Plan 2026- 2030, which will set out an enhanced vision for sustainable mobility across Ireland, one which will meet the challenge set by our ambitious carbon emissions reduction targets, while also fulfilling the needs of our people – through the provision of a green, safe, affordable and reliable network of walking, cycling and public transport infrastructure. It will be a challenging task, but one that the Government is ready for, and one which I know will benefit our people for decades to come.

The recent National Development Plan (NDP) review demonstrated the Government’s commitment to the transport sector by allocating €24.33 billion up to 2030 in support of broad objectives including those envisaged under the SMP. Importantly, this includes a ringfenced €2 billion to commence construction of Metrolink, the most ambitious and transformational transport project ever seen in this country. This essential piece of infrastructure for our capital city is long overdue and will sit alongside further investment in DART+ and BusConnects projects in each of the five cities. Indeed, in July, I had the pleasure of announcing that the first BusConnects construction contract has been awarded, for the Liffey Valley Core Bus Corridor, with construction to commence this month. The new NDP review sets the financial parameters for continued prioritisation of sustainable mobility for the next five years and beyond.

The critical role of regional connectivity is also recognised in the SMP, and the NDP will underpin expanded support for rural mobility through initiatives such as Connecting Ireland. This has been a phenomenal success to date, connecting 240 new towns and villages – and counting – to the public transport network.

Darragh O’Brien T.D. Minister for Transport