26th November 2019 | Local Government, Press Releases, Transport
Dublin City Council budget: key win for cycling amid government cuts – Greens
Green Party members of Dublin City Council tonight passed a billion-euro budget for the city, working with colleagues in the Dublin Agreement group (Fianna Fáil, Labour and Social Democrats).
The budget will – for the first time – allocate a specific proportion of the road maintenance budget to cycling infrastructure. The 20% allocation will be worth over €2.8m, over the existing capital budget.
The party aims for the funds to be used for safe cycling infrastructure, including full segregation from other traffic, wands, and resurfacing.
This came despite government cuts to Irish Water rates, costing the city an estimated €8.4m.
Leader of the Green Group on Dublin City Council, Councillor Neasa Hourigan said:
"This is a real win for cycling in Dublin. Safer facilities will encourage more people to get on a bike.
"We're proud to secure this despite financial difficulties imposed on the city by Fine Gael government cuts.
"Fine Gael has acted in a deeply dishonest way by promising a bridging fund for the shortfall in funds from Irish Water and removing it less than three months before the budget meeting."
Green Party spokesperson for Transport, Councillor Patrick Costello said:
"We're delivering for Dublin in this budget. Cycling could be both safer and more widespread with proper investment – investment that this government has failed to provide and cyclists have tragically had to pay the price.
"In this year alone there have been at least eight cyclist fatalities as a result of inadequate infrastructure. We on Dublin City Council are delivering while the minister isn't."