Four Waterford schools will take part in the Safe Routes to School programme

Green Party TD for Waterford, Marc Ó Cathasaigh has welcomed the news that four Waterford schools will take part in the Safe Routes to School programme which was announced today by Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan.

The four Waterford schools to receive funding are Glór na Mara National School, Tramore, Garrabane National School, Dungarvan, Our lady of Mercy National School, Stradbally and Waterford Educate Together National School, Carrigphierish.

Speaking after the announcement, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said:

“This is great news for the four schools involved. They will be assigned a Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Officer from An Taisce Green Schools who will work with the school to develop a delivery plan that will make it safer to walk, cycle or scoot to school. It will be delivered by Waterford City & County council and is funded from the €1.8 billion committed by this government for walking and cycling across the country over the next five years”.

“We know that children want to walk or cycle to school, and as a former teacher, we know that if they do, the health and environment benefits are endless. This initiative will help reduce traffic, combat childhood obesity, and reduce local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. My Green Party colleagues and I secured a historic increase in funding for walking and cycling during the Programme for Government negotiations last year and I’m very happy to work with any school to help them get better walking and cycling infrastructure on the school run.”

“As a former teacher, I would always worry about encouraging children to walk or cycle to school on roads which would be very busy at school start and finish times so I am very pleased to see this funding to improve road safety at these four Waterford schools. The Safe Routes to school will look at the infrastructure around our schools so we can ensure that when we’re encouraging children to get to school in a healthy and sustainable way, that they can do this safely.”