Results 27,381-27,400 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Other Questions: Road Haulage Industry (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy McGrath. The road haulage industry suffered during the recession, particularly due to the downturn in the construction sector.  The Government recognised the challenges facing the sector and announced the fuel duty rebate for hauliers in 2012, which could result in savings of up to €70 million per annum for the haulage sector. The number of road...

Other Questions: Road Haulage Industry (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: That action has already happened.

Other Questions: Road Haulage Industry (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I am absolutely aware of the needs of the road haulage sector. There are a few groups and sectors that I have met more regularly since I came into office because I believe, and I have said this to them, the work they do provides the backbone to how much our economy develops.

Other Questions: Road Haulage Industry (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Indeed, Deputy, we have supported them. This is why we have brought in the fuel rebate and why I have made changes elsewhere in the implementation of law to look to recognise their needs. I assure the Deputy that a very complicated piece of work on the taxation of their sector is now approaching finalisation. The sector and its representatives have been actively involved in that work...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dublin City Centre Transport Study (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I believe the Deputy is overstating the situation somewhat in describing it as a war under way in regard to car users or the use of cars in the city centre. I have had the opportunity to meet many of the retailers concerned about these plans. I also am aware of the concerns of organisations which run car parks. The Deputy has pointed out that I represent many of the areas that are affected...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dublin City Centre Transport Study (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I will meet more representatives from the Dublin retail industry tomorrow to hear their views on the matter. The Deputy referred to the potential for hollowing out of the city centre. Few developments are more capable of doing huge damage to the vibrancy of our city centre than immense levels of congestion and the inability of people to travel into the city because of the lack of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: As I have covered this matter already, I will just reiterate two points so that we will have more time to deal with any further points the Deputy wishes to make. On the second question, there has been some speculation that I recommended the extension of the Luas and a particular route. I have not brought any recommendation to Cabinet on this matter, but I will do so soon. When I have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for her question. She has raised this matter with me at every Question Time I have taken in the Dáil since I took over this Department. Her description of the project is accurate in terms of its future importance. The business case, which was published yesterday afternoon by the National Transport Authority and which I have made fully available to the public,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: It is precisely due to the need for better integration of our public transport network and to increase its capacity that the Government is funding the Luas Cross City project and making it happen. We are extending the Luas to Cabra and Phibsborough. We are joining up the Luas in the city centre, and that work is under way. This is the subject of the next question from Deputy Dooley. It is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I am disappointed with the Deputy's reply. I do my best, when I come to the House, to answer all of the questions that are put to me. I accept many of the points the Deputy is making, but I have also pointed to the fact that, in regard to the very integration she refers to, investment is under way. The Luas Cross City project is being built, the Phoenix Park tunnel is being opened up, more...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dublin City Centre Transport Study (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: ​The Dublin City Centre Transport Study, to which the Deputy refers, is a study that was jointly carried out by the National Transport Authority, NTA, and Dublin City Council, DCC, to assess transport-related issues in the core city centre area in light of changes resulting from the Luas Cross City project in particular.  The study covers all modes of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I have not given any indication to anybody, public or private, beyond close Government colleagues regarding what the recommendation will be. When I have my recommendation to take to Cabinet, I will look for Government approval and at that point I will make an announcement and be subject to questioning by Deputy Timmy Dooley and other Members of the Dáil on it. On two elements of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: ​Irish Rail remains in a difficult financial situation and has incurred losses in each of the past seven years with accumulated losses of more than €150 million in that period. CIE and its subsidiaries are dependent on continued bank funding and new banking facilities, agreed in 2013, contain a number of financial covenants, all of which were met in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Last year, I secured an additional €45 million for Irish Rail and this year, I secured an additional €38 million for Irish Rail on top of the Estimates that were announced at budget time in each year. During my tenure in office I have done all that was possible to respond to the challenges Irish Rail faces. I am well aware of the challenges different parts of the rail network...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Dessie Ellis said I should write the figure off. How am I to do that? It is a loss of €150 million that is sitting on the balance sheet of an independent State company. Earlier this morning I saw that the Deputy’s party was calling for the complete abolition of the property tax, yet at the same time he is asking me to write off losses of €150 million and to find...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I do have a responsibility, namely, to do what I can to put the right investment into Irish Rail and where appropriate to look to invest in it. I did not see Deputy Ellis’s press release or statement acknowledging the fact that this year alone we put an additional €38 million into Irish Rail although he has asked that I would unilaterally write off the losses of a company that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: This question appears to have been based on media commentary and conjecture in recent weeks which, I hope is apparent from yesterday, was not fully the case. As announced yesterday, the Government has agreed that the DART underground project should be redesigned to provide a lower cost technical solution. It is certainly not being cancelled. Indeed, the overall DART...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rail Network (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: If I may go back to one of the earlier questions the Deputy posed to me on the conjecture on the option for the northside of Dublin city that I did not fully answer, I have not given an indication to anybody regarding what that plan will be because I have not brought it to Cabinet. I will only make an announcement regarding what the plan will be when I have secured Cabinet approval. While I...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Roads Authority Projects (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: ​As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads, is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its capital budget, the assessment...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: State Bodies Property (23 Sep 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Property disposals are a matter for CIE who are required to dispose of property in accordance with the Code of Practice for the Governance of  State Bodies. As part of her annual report to me under the  Code of Practice,  the CIE Chair reports to me on the carrying out of all appropriate procedures for asset disposals by CIE.  The last...