In September 2018, Cyclist.ie members including Maynooth Cycling Campaign put together a budget submission addressed to Paschal Donohue, Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure, outlining the deficiency in government funding to enable cycling to grow. Essentially the submission called for 10% of Land Transport Funding to be allocated to cycling to enable the government to meet its own target of 10% of modal share by cycling by 2020. At that time funding levels were approximately 2% of the Land Transport capital budget with a modal share for cycling of approximately 3% of trips.

The Cyclist.ie submission points out that appropriate funding for cycling aligns with numerous government policies and initiatives across a variety of sectors such as Transport, Environment, Climate Change, Health, Business, and Education. Cycling, as a mode of transport, offers numerous well documented benefits to society, including:

• Improved public health
• Reduced congestion
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
• Reduced air and noise pollution
• More liveable and sociable streets and communities, and
• High rates of economic return

Unlocking these benefits requires targeted and sustained investment, and international evidence demonstrates that investing in cycling provides excellent value for money. From available data we estimate that spending on cycling currently only amounts to approximately 2% of Transport capital spending. This compares to recommended targets of 10% for cycling, and present European levels of between 5% and 8%. This very low proportion is not commensurate with the benefits offered by cycling, or with the significant economic costs which car dependence imposes on Irish society.

In addition to seeking an increase in funding to 10% of the Land Transport capital budget, #Allocate4Cycling also seeks a reallocation of road space from motorised vehicles to cycling and the provision of high quality infrastructure.

2018 Pre-Budget Submission to Department of Finance (Summary) pdf

2018 Pre-Budget Submission to Department of Finance (Full Document) pdf

The campaign was launched in Buswells Hotel on October. Deputies from Fianna Fáil, Labour, Social Democrats, Green Party and People before Profit came along to show their support. Maynooth Cycling Campaign will continue to support the #Allocate4Cycling campaign during 2019 with particular focus on the local and European elections.

In December 2018, Robert Troy, the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Transport, introduced a strongly worded motion on cycling on the Dáil. There were several other speakers from Fianna Fáil as well as speakers from Sinn Fein, the Green Party, the Labour Party and People before Profit. There was no vote taken as