Results 1,001-1,020 of 28,135 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Test (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. As such, the information requested is held by the RSA. Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct response. Please contact my office if a reply is not received within ten days.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Test (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Under the Road Safety Authority Act 2006, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has statutory responsibility for the National Driver Testing Service. As such, the information requested is held by the RSA. Given the RSA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the RSA for direct response. Please contact my office if a reply is not received within ten days.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Legislative Process (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: It has long been agreed that there is a need to consolidate the Road Traffic Acts, which both this and the previous Government has committed to in their respective Programmes for Government. However, competing for resources with this objective has been the ongoing need to enact further road safety critical and other legislation. Notwithstanding this, with the passage and coming into law of...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Legislative Process (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The National Vehicle and Driver File Bill 2025 strengthens the provisions of the Finance Act 1993 in relation to access to vehicle and driver data by An Garda Síochána and other bodies. The Bill updates the Act, which is pre-GDPR, to bring it in line with current data protection principles. The Bill provides for the making of data sharing agreements with those bodies, as well as...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Department of Transport’s investment strategy is informed by the National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland (NIFTI), with funding allocated to projects across all modes, primarily in line with the NIFTI intervention hierarchy of Maintain, Optimise, Improve, and New. NIFTI supports the consideration and prioritisation of future land transport investment by...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: EU Regulations (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Department of Transport was actively involved in the drafting of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Regulation and is aware of the requirement that major airports with over 12 million passengers annually must be connected by long distance rail by 2040, bar in situations where an exemption is granted by the European Commission as set out in the legislation. The MetroLink...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: EU Regulations (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As the Deputy may be aware, Ireland has set ambitious targets of reducing carbon emissions in the transport sector by 50% relative to 2018 levels by 2030, and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. In order to help achieve these targets, the Climate Action Plan sets out a range of transport measures based on an Avoid, Shift and Improve framework. Providing high-capacity frequent public...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Network (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As the Deputy may be aware, Ireland has set ambitious targets of reducing carbon emissions in the transport sector by 50% relative to 2018 levels by 2030, and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. In order to help achieve these targets, the Climate Action Plan sets out a range of transport measures based on an Avoid, Shift and Improve framework. Providing high-capacity frequent public...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Aviation Industry (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: It is important to clarify at the outset, that emissions from international aviation are outside the scope of the Climate Action Plan. Further, the overall effect on transport emission trends in Ireland from domestic aviation is negligible. For these reasons, my response is largely focussed on the broader context of the international policy objective of reducing aviation emissions. The...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Grant Payments (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry, including the administration of the wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) grant, is a matter for the independent transport regulator, the National Transport Authority (NTA), under the provisions of the Consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016. I have no role in the day-to-day operations of the SPSV sector. ...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Legislative Measures (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As you are aware, the Government agreed, in December 2019, to develop a General Scheme of a Bill to legislate in relation to Horse Drawn Carriages, in line with advice from the Attorney General. The Department undertook to consult directly with Dublin City Council in relation to the drafting of the Bill. This matter did not progress in 2020 as planned due to the need to reprioritise other...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the provision of bus shelters. There is commitment under the Programme for Government to ensure that public transport operators provide safe...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Network (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), including light rail. Implementation of the Transport Strategy for the GDA 2022-2042 has been divided into...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Network (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As the Deputy may be aware, the NTA has the statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), including light rail. The NTA published the Transport Strategy for the GDA 2022-2042in January 2023. The strategy sets out a statutory framework for transport investment across the region over a twenty-year period and...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Data (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: I welcome the publication of the Q1 Progress report on the Climate Action Plan 2025 and I note the achievement of 100% of the Department’s CAP25 actions to the end of Q2, 2025, as well as the completion of 5 legacy actions. Actions completed in 2025 include the provision of funding and development support for destination EV charging points at over 200 eligible sites, as well as the...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and exchequer funding in relation to the National Roads Programme. Under the Roads Acts 1993-2015 and in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), the planning, design and construction of individual national roads is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with the local authorities concerned....

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Electric Vehicles (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Fleet electrification is expected to continue to provide the greatest share of emissions abatement in the short-to-medium term for the transport sector. Over €100m has been allocated in 2025 to support the continued transition to electric vehicles through funding for EV grants and EV charging infrastructure. This underpins the Government’s commitment to making electric vehicles...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Electric Vehicles (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: Fleet electrification is expected to continue to provide the greatest share of emissions abatement in the short-to-medium term for the transport sector. Over €100m has been allocated in 2025 to support the continued transition to electric vehicles through funding for EV grants and EV charging infrastructure. This underpins the Government’s commitment to making electric vehicles...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Electric Vehicles (29 Jul 2025)

Darragh O'Brien: The Government is fully committed to supporting the transition to zero-emission transport and the ambitious target to have 30% of private car fleet switched to electric by 2030. As detailed in the new programme for Government, my Department is examining the current EV grant system to ensure it remains effective and consistent with a just transition. Over €100m has been allocated in...