Half of all primary pupils driven to school, census shows

New census figures show a greater reliance on the car to get to school and work, with a million households now owning at least one car.

Far fewer primary pupils are walking to school than in the past. While walking was the main way of getting to primary school in 1981 with 47 per cent of pupils going on foot, only 26 per cent are now walking, according to the 2002 census.

Figures released yesterday by the Central Statistics Office show that half of all primary pupils are driven to school, compared with only one fifth in 1981.

More adults are also using cars to get to work. Of the State's 1.6 million workers, 55 per cent drive to work - up from 46 per cent five years ago. When passengers and van or lorry drivers are included, the figure for people travelling to work in private vehicles increases to almost 70 per cent.

The findings reflect the increase in car ownership. One million households own at least one car, according to the census, a rise of a third in 10 years.

Car ownership is highest in Meath, Fingal and Kildare, where almost nine out of ten households own a car. In Dublin city, the figure is 58 per cent.

Fine Gael Health Spokeswoman, Ms Olivia Mitchell, said there "was no doubt" methods of transport to school and work, along with diet, had caused the huge increase in obesity.

"A lack of public transport and concerns about public safety mean that children are driven everywhere. They're even driven to play. What we're looking at is a complete change in lifestyle from their parents' generation."

Green Party transport spokesman, Mr Eamon Ryan, said the change would have dire social, economic and environmental consequences. "The figures present an almost unrelenting picture of gloom for everyone except the car salesman. Some 350,000 more people use motorised vehicles to travel as against an increase of only 43,000 using sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport. This is an atrocious indictment of our transport and planning strategies."

Particularly noticeable he said, was the decrease of 27 per cent in the number cycling to work, reflecting the fact that more people are having to live further away from their work.

The children being driven to school were setting a pattern for life, which could have long-term detrimental effects, he said.

"The most worrying part of these figures is the transport habits which are now being created in the primary and secondary schools of Ireland. There are undoubted health consequences, such as rising obesity levels, for both this generation as well as future ones.

"Behind the figures is the story of massive increases in pollution, wasted hours spent in traffic jams and alarming levels of obesity and early onset diabetes as our young children forget how to use their legs. It is clear that Government policy needs to be radically reviewed in order to reverse these alarming travel patterns."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said that fewer children walking to school, and that lifestyles in general had become more sedentary, had been considered by the task force on obesity, due to report in the coming weeks.

"The strategy it will set out will be multidisciplinary. It is particularly aimed at children and the level of exercise they take will be looked at."

Meanwhile, the Department of Transport has revealed that there has been no drop in the number of provisional drivers waiting for tests. The average waiting time stands at more than 42 weeks.