Many speakers have highlighted various gender gaps across Ireland. However, there is another gender gap I wish to highlight, namely that relating to transport. We are investing heavily in sustainable transport - nearly €600 million across the four local authorities in Dublin - to build various active travel schemes. This figure could reach €1 billion by 2030. Of course, we absolutely need to invest in sustainable transport. This is essential in order to hit our climate targets for public health and also to make sure that the city continues to keep moving as the population increases and the number of journeys people take increase. However, we also need to make sure this transition is fair; right now it is not. According to TII research, four out of five women in Dublin consider having a car to be a necessity. Let us look at why women are saying a car is an absolute necessity. The type of journeys women do are very different from those men do. Men take journeys from point A to point B whereas women's journey choices are very much driven by their caring responsibilities. They are often more complex journeys or what are called trip-change journeys. For example, a woman might collect the kids after school and drop them off to their after-school activities before popping in to see her parents. That all happens in the course of a single trip. In addition, our very education system is adding to the complexity of it. Unlike most European counties, we have a highly gendered education system, that is, a high percentage of single-sex schools. This is something that is repeatedly reported to me by parents and grandparents in my constituency of Dublin Rathdown where people find they have to drop off and collect their children from up to three different schools that are all in different locations. Enterprise Ireland funded research to try to understand some of the complexities around women's transport choices. It found that for cycling there were distinct barriers for women. The further she is away from the city centre, the less likely a woman is to cycle. If a woman is living in an apartment, she is two times less likely to cycle than a man. This is known as the hassle effect as a result of the hassle of having to manage a bike when you are in an apartment. Interestingly, if you are on a higher income, as a woman, you are twice as unlikely to cycle than a man. We think that is down to the presentation penalty. If you are on a higher income, you are also probably at supervisory or managerial level and there are certain expectations of how you should present at work, which may not be compatible with the cycling journey. On the plus side, our levels of cycling to school are going up according to census data, so that is good. However, these gendered effects kick in at a very early age, namely school age. Further research has been done to try to understand this. It found that uniforms, traffic concerns, physical effort, the impact of personal appearance and peer influence all discourage young girls from cycling to and from school. We are spending €600 million on active travel schemes which make cycling more pleasant and safer. As can be seen from everything I have outlined, however, that is only one factor that is going to help address this issue. In fact, safety concerns are regarded as fairly equal between men and women. The most recent walking, wheeling and cycling survey found that most women think it is perfectly safe to cycle in their own neighbourhoods. The real barriers to cycling are social and cultural, and these can be much harder to change. Census data shows that one in five of those who cycle to work are women. The majority of people cycling to work are men. Perhaps all of these dynamics explain why the NTA's canal cordon survey data found there are 3,000 fewer cycling journeys than there were in 2019 while all other forms of transportation have gone up. If the Government is serious about a transition to sustainable transport, we need to ensure that it is fair. To do that, we must recognise that these gender gaps exist in transport and that, for very complex reasons, women are less likely to cycle. We must also acknowledge that women are far more likely to see the car as a necessity. We need to reshape our cities to facilitate sustainable transport but as we are doing so we are also increasing congestion. We are removing filter lanes. For example, it is proposed that all the filter lanes on the N11 be removed. We are closing roads. Multiple roads have been closed in Kilmacud, for example, and we are changing traffic light sequences in order that fewer cars get through junctions. This is inevitably increasing congestion across Dublin. Who will be sitting in traffic because they have picked up the kids, are dropping them to school activities and are hoping to pop in and do a welfare check on their elderly parents? It will be women. At whose expense are we building all of this cycling infrastructure that causes these longer car journeys? It is at the expense of the women who will be sitting in those cars. I will be advocating in favour of the need to address these issues across government. If we want to hit our climate targets and if we want to make Dublin more cycle friendly, we need to do so in a way that effectively accounts for these unique challenges faced by women in Ireland.

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