Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With regard to the A5 road, when the Department set its roads budget for 2019 were the officials not aware of the current legal status of the A5? One would imagine they were aware as the overrun at the children's hospital is not something that suddenly became apparent in recent weeks. Why was money allocated at the beginning of the year for a project the Minister did not envisage would be drawn down? My concern is there is a disproportionate cut of €30 million to the Department and it is being masked under the heading of the A5 because, as the Minister quite rightly said, there are complications and it will not progress at the speed we would like to see. Knowing what the Minister knew, and knowing the complications and legal difficulties, why was funding earmarked for the A5 this year if it was never going to be drawn down in the first instance?

An increase in funding for the public transport agencies is provided under subhead B9. I understand this increase would be to agencies such as the National Transport Authority. Will the Minister clarify what this increase is for? Is it primarily for the work being done on rolling out BusConnects? Does it concern Transport Infrastructure Ireland in terms of the work being done on rolling out the metro? Perhaps the Minister will take this opportunity to clarify the position on the metro. Will it be rolled out as one stand-alone project or will it be divided in two projects?

The Minister has identified €7 million for carbon reduction. Given the fact that transport is the second biggest contributor after agriculture to our global emissions, €7 million is a drop in the ocean. It is disappointing to note that €1.9 million will be carried over from last year. Why were we not able to meet our expenditure targets last year? The Minister has a commitment to retrofit older public transport facilities to accommodate people with varying levels of ability and disability. Earlier this year, we produced a document to which the Minister contributed and we debated it in the Dáil several weeks ago. Has the Minister set a clear target on how many public transport facilities will be retrofitted to make sure they are wheelchair accessible and disability friendly? The Minister has spoken about new innovative ideas to help decarbonise transport, including pilot initiatives. Perhaps he will share some information on these pilot initiatives with us.

With regard to the roads budget, the programme for partnership Government the Minister negotiated includes a commitment to restore roads funding to a steady-state condition. As the Minister goes into his fourth year in office, this commitment will not be met. The 2019 output target of 264 km for length of national road pavement renewed is below the long-term annual target length of pavement renewal of 350 km and below the 2018 output target of 280 km. When is it envisaged to reach the target of 350 km outlined in the high level matrix?

With regard to rail transport, the Minister speaks about bringing the level of funding back up to a steady-state level. What are the effects of the lack of funding for a steady-state level over recent years? We have not kept it at a steady level in recent years. What have been the cumulative defects over recent years?

I ask the Minister to update the committee on the tendering process for additional rail carriages. I know, as I am sure my colleagues also know from their engagements with Irish Rail, that the company's assets have been sweated within an inch of their lives. There are no additional carriages in spite of the urgent need for such carriages on many services. When will the tender document be issued for the delivery of new carriages? When is delivery of new carriages expected?