Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 May 2026
232. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Transport if his Department has considered a roll-out of the safe routes to school initiative to all schools as opposed to the onerous grant application; if he has considered the expansion to secondary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40990/26]
View answerThe Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Programme was launched in March 2021 with the aim of supporting walking, scooting, and cycling to schools and creating safer walking and cycling routes within communities through the provision of infrastructure interventions including, in some cases, School Zones.
These projects should help alleviate congestion at school gates and increase the number of students who walk or cycle to school. The Safe Routes to School Programme is funded by the Department of Transport through the National Transport Authority (NTA) and An Taisce's Green Schools is co-ordinating the programme.
Invitations to express interest were sent to all primary and secondary schools in the country, and 932 applications were received across every county in Ireland. Schools are processed in tranches, with four rounds having been announced to date. Over 500 schools are now active in the programme or have had projects completed.
It should be noted that all schools that applied to the original call for applications were accepted into the programme, and if not selected in the initial rounds will be selected at a later date with no requirement to apply again. Given the pipeline of projects due for completion, there are no plans for an additional call for schools to join the SRTS programme currently.
