To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to outline what action he is taking to increase the number of children who walk or cycle to school.

My Department regularly reviews statistics in relation to children’s travel methods to and from school. The latest results for 2022-23 found that 31% of primary school children and 21% of post-primary school children regularly walk or cycle to school and that more than half live close enough to their school for walking or cycling to be a viable option.

Provision of high-quality infrastructure is one of the main things my Department can do to encourage walking, wheeling, and cycling. I am committed to increasing investment in active travel to enable more people to make that choice for many of their everyday journeys, including to and from school. I can confirm that routes to schools are considered in the active travel network plans currently being developed for our largest towns and cities.

My Department also works in partnership with schools on the delivery of a number of road safety and active travel programmes, such as child pedestrian road safety training and the Cycling Proficiency Scheme. My Department and the Public Health Agency (PHA) jointly fund the Active School Travel programme which is delivered by Sustrans. This programme also provides our young people with the necessary skills and confidence to feel safe when making active travel choices.