My Political Achievements

The Climate Act is one of the most influential laws ever enacted in Ireland because it strongly guides the direction of a number of sectors, i.e. industry, transport, planning, local government, housing, agriculture, forestry, water and power generation. The most consequential part of the Act is the provision to set a legally binding cut in carbon emissions by 51% (based on 2018 baseline) and this was agreed by the Committee that I chaired. Another provision, that all public bodies (i.e. local authorities, State agencies, etc) must perform their functions consistent with the national climate objective, was recently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court (Feb 2026) and will discourage climate impacting projects.

One of the last items agreed in the programme for government negotiations in June 2020, on my insistence, was the ambition to treble the number of Local Link passenger journeys in the term of the government. Fine Gael, in particular, were opposed to this ambition and left the talks when we held firm. Fianna Fáil persuaded them to return to the table and ultimately they agreed. In the course of the government's term the number of Local Links passenger journeys increased five-fold, surpassing even our own ambition. These have been a godsend to the vitality of life in rural Ireland and I am proud of the role I and my party played in this massive ramping up in services. 

The All Island Strategic Rail Review (AISRR) is a blueprint for the development of rail across the island of Ireland for the next 20 years. It contains important features, such as linking Shannon, Dublin and Belfast Airports to the national rail network. The Shannon Airport rail connection should be one of the highest priorities of government because, if built, it will heavily influence the economic and population growth of the Midwest Region and will help bring about a more balanced island.  

The Derelict Property Grant (€70,000) and Vacant Property Grant (€50,000) came about as a result of a few of us in the Green Party pushing against our coalition partners on the issue of the Help To Buy Grant. Our criticism of the Help To Buy was that it was only for first time buyers and, specifically, for new properties. There was no State support for the refurbishment of existing properties, of which there were hundreds of thousands that were vacant or derelict. It made sense to us that the government should support individuals and families to restore old properties. Doing so would breath life into towns and villages and rural Ireland generally, support the small scale construction industry, encourage the protection and restoration of valuable heritage buildings and displace carbon emissions. 

The Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (LSMATS) was heavily influenced by me. It is now the adopted strategy of Limerick Council and the National Transport Authority and Irish Rail to develop a commuter rail system for Limerick. In truth, neither the Council nor the NTA are enthusiastic about it and they have been dragging thir heels, but it is the strategy and it makes it far easier for others to advocate for this system. If this ambition was not contained in LSMATS then it simply would not be entertained at all.

Although it was agreed in the Programme for Government I believe the Directly Elected Mayor legislation would not have been prioritised by the government, and may have fallen off the agenda, except for the internal pressing for it by myself and my colleagues. The legislation was the remit of various Fine Gael Ministers who held the Local Government brief from 2020 to 2024, and, in my view it is not as good as it could be. The division of powers between the Mayor and Director General is not clear, nor is the role of the Príomh Comhairleoir. Crucuially, the Mayor does not have any revenue raising powers, and that puts the role at odds with his or her counterparts in other jurisdictions. I succeeded in a three year review being built into the legislation and I believe it is important that these issues are reconsidered then. 

The active travel teams that are now on many local authorities were an initiative of both myself and Marc O'Cathasaigh, my party colleague in Waterford, when we shared accommodation during the Programme for Government negotiations in Dublin in May / June 2020. We felt that if there were teams in each city or county whose job was to develop a pipeline of projects ready for funding from the National Transport Authority then this would lead to a scaling up of expertise in the design of cycling and walking infrastructure and also a steady stream of business for contractors. 

We funded the Limerick to Foynes Railway project because we see it as a catalyst for the wider development of rail in the Midwest and West of Ireland. It enables future commuter rail services in the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area and is a stepping stone towards other rail projects, such as the Westerm Rail Corridor between Athenry and Claremorris.