Results 25,481-25,500 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: On where I see the 20% reduction, when I visit most agencies, Departments or other organisations, my first question is how many days a week do people come in. It has roughly halved on the level prior to Covid. Many people are working from home. This is of real benefit to rural Ireland because people are increasingly making decisions to work remotely. The digital hubs we are setting up in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The Deputy is right. Better alternatives in public transport are needed. I argue that this Government, unlike any other, has been investing in that. In the last year we have been rolling out a new rural bus service every week. That is just in rural areas.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: That is why you have to have the alternative. Prior to this Government, that scale of investment in rural bus transport was not there. It had been in decline for decades. As the OECD said, we had, by design, created a car-centric system. That is changing. We are investing very significantly in rural public transport and having that alternative will make a huge difference. For those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: It will. I have spoken to one of the officials who was at a meeting on this this morning. We expect it to be published very shortly. Green hydrogen will have a real role in our country because we will have surplus electricity which we will be looking to convert. It is likely that it will be first used where there is existing use of hydrogen, for example, in refineries. We would expect it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with Deputy Leddin that lighter and smaller is better than heavier and bigger. Deputy Leddin might have also said "cheaper" because the reality is that very large vehicles, and there has been a trend towards large vehicles in recent years which is a concern, are much more expensive. The Government has given clear signals through changes to the tax system in VRT and motor tax,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: We do not have a scrappage scheme. I am always nervous about scrappage schemes because there is an embodied environmental cost in the manufacture of any car. If we see the lifecycle of a vehicle come to an abrupt end it might not be the most optimal for the environment. We have to make sure everything is safe and meets safety standards. I am uncertain about scrappage schemes because I am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The real key to meeting the target is achieving a modal shift to public transport, walking and cycling and reducing the overall number of kilometres driven. This will have a much more significant impact. The modelling shows that if we deliver the electric vehicle targets it will get us so far but even going further than this is not the be all and end all. It will happen anyway. We are...

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I will begin by answering Deputy Pringle. I absolutely believe we should publish the recommendations and bring them back for debate in this Chamber. I agree with what Deputy Ó Cuív said earlier, which is that this Chamber is the pre-eminent citizens' assembly for our country, democratically elected and constitutionally mandated. We should and will be centre stage in discussing...

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I do have an issue with the undemocratic structures that the UN Security Council is based on.

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I will go through the Chair. To my mind, we have a fundamental problem in the institutional structures. There have been mechanisms to try to resolve that. In the 1950s, the United States of America pushed through UN General Assembly Resolution 377, the uniting for peace resolution, as a means of circumventing possible Soviet vetoes. The measure states that in the event that the Security...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with much of what the Deputy said. Starting with the public spending code, the review of the national development plan, NDP, itself included a significant chapter that recognised that we had created in our public spending code processes too complex a system and one with too many layers. It might perhaps be argued that we are fighting the last war in the sense that, having been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I am confident that at the end of the lifetime of this Government, in a year and ten months' time, we will be able to show a real record of achievement across a variety of different areas. Yes, we do want to go faster, but I do believe we will be able to show the record of delivery the Deputy referred to. The point the Deputy made is valid. We need not only to resource An Bord Pleanála...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: We should be careful about some of the statistics we are hearing at the moment on emissions. My understanding is that the emissions report from EUROSTAT from the fourth quarter of last year is complicated because it includes international aviation metrics. We should wait for the EPA's inventory details, which it typically publishes in July each year. Otherwise we will be confusing people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Regarding how we get people cycling, first and foremost, we must make it safe. What is stopping people at the moment is a sense of hazard, which is understandable. I presume the Leas-Chathaoirleach comes in along Clonskeagh Road. He will see there-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The new infrastructure there is a quantum leap and that needs to extend right the way into town and it can. The council is examining many interim solutions. All the money does not necessarily have to be spent on civil works. What Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council showed is how cycling infrastructure can be created without necessarily having huge interventions. That is what we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Leas-Chathaoirleach about the concept. I can see the logic where if someone is travelling between Bangor Erris and Belmullet on a Wednesday afternoon, that should be priced differently from a motorists travelling between Blackrock and Ballsbridge on a Tuesday at 8 a.m. TII is working on Project BRUCE, Better Road User Charging Evaluation, and expects to report by the end of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I fully agree. School traffic currently comprises about 30% of morning rush-hour traffic. If we can reduce that figure, it will have a profound impact. We are looking at costing what is the increased level of public service offering, PSO, that would be needed to give that ultra-high frequency services so that people see it in the same way as the Luas. I also agree about the benefits of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The primary purpose of the document from the viewpoint of the Department of Finance was to raise the question about whether we should establish a sovereign fund. It largely made the case for doing so. In passing, the document makes reference to the fact that we have significant demographic pressures as well as a requirement to invest in climate and digital. However, that was not the sole...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: We can go very local and refer to a project that we have talked about a lot, the Castlemartyr bypass. There is no intention whatsoever from my side or that of the Department to restrict that. I will go back and see why the design consultant's report is not proceeding. We have a wide variety of projects in the roads programme, many of which have been built. The reality is that with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Sectoral Emissions Ceiling: Minister for Transport (17 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: We have budgeted €491 million this year for national roads and-----