Results 25,501-25,520 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: -----€626 million for local roads.

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

Eamon Ryan: I agree and going back to the discussion we had earlier, we need to be quicker, both through our public procurement process and our planning process. Everything I am doing is directed at trying to speed that up.

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

Eamon Ryan: First, the introduction of E10 will take place on 1 July this year but it does not necessarily mean the biofuel content will be 10%. I think it has to be over 5.5% and because it is a competitive market and different suppliers have different arrangements, they will decide how they will use the ethanol. Similarly, we have the B7 on the diesel side. On the broader issue of hyrdotreated...

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

Eamon Ryan: There is a scheme called the bike library. It is focusing on parents who might like to use the likes of a cargo bike to bring their children to school and so on. That has proven to be hugely popular and has just been expanded. The Deputy's idea is a good one and it has already started. I will check if there are any international examples, or perhaps the Cathaoirleach could provide me with...

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

Eamon Ryan: I agree. There is no reason not to go in the same direction. As I said earlier, it creates a requirement for safe spaces. We can look at all options, in terms of trials or other mechanisms, but we are well placed to make that leap. The target in the plan, which is for a 50% increase in active travel, will, in hindsight and in history, be seen as under-ambitious. Once we start to get the...

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

Eamon Ryan: Yes. I heard a public health doctor from DCU on the radio this morning make the point that this is transformative in terms of improving people's health. People arrive fresh, energised, attentive, exercised and healthier. Once people start to have that experience and realise that this is a better way of getting around, it will spread virally. That is what we need to do.

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

Eamon Ryan: I agree.

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: These amendments are to make small but important technical corrections to the legislation underpinning the motor insurance database. The Bill seeks to insert a new section 56A into the Road Traffic Act 1961, which will require people applying for motor insurance to provide certain information to the insurer. This is information the insurer would need to have later to provide it for the...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I wish to reassure the Senator that the ages for medical certificates for driving licences are set in regulations rather than the Bill. That will not change in the amendments or drafting of the Bill. As I said, we will continue to review and revise that issue based on the best advice from An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority. Nothing in the Bill will change that or...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I understand the Senator's concern, but I do not agree with the proposal. Section 5(p) of the Bill inserts a new section, section 109A, into the Road Traffic Act 1961 to provide for new Garda powers to deal with dangerous driving. I appreciate the Senators are concerned about the reference to a vehicle which is not only being driven or used but also likely to be driven or used in any place...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I accept and understand the argument Senator Higgins is making, and there is a certain validity to it. However, I also have to listen to other Senators and Deputies state this is long-awaited legislation and describe the real threat to people, particularly in parks, streets or urban areas, where people very threatened and very much endangered by the use of these scramblers. The Bill...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I do want to encourage the use of cargo bikes and tricycles but I am afraid I cannot accept the amendments because I do not think they are necessary. In fact, they could confuse matters, which I am sure we would not want to see happen. At the points where Senator Higgins is proposing to add reference to a cargo bicycle or tricycle to the Bill, we are amending the definitions of pedal cycle...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I will not be able to accept the Senator's amendment but I want to explain why. She asked that I name the devices. To take an example, the tag used at a tolling booth is another such data-gathering device. I could go on. The nature of the tags varies but there is a range of different types of devices and I do not think I can list in primary legislation all those other data gathering...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: It is difficult because our discussion is really about the future amendments, where it is my intention to accept what the Senator said during the Committee Stage debate and put a requirement on the Minister to be specific in respect of how it is regulated. In response to some of the direct concerns, those regulations include how data might be provided, used, stored, destroyed and so on. It...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: This is to give flexibility and it is not in any way to diminish the role of local authorities. It may sometimes involve TII asking the local authorities to take some of the functions in national roads. It is not to restrict local authorities, but to extend their capabilities.

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: On Committee Stage we discussed some of the data-protection measures in the new section 77A, which the Bill will insert into the Road Traffic Act 1993 to deal with traffic cameras and other devices. I thank Senators Ruane and Higgins for drawing attention to the important issue of data protection regarding the use of cameras and other devices on our roads. I believe we are in agreement on...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: This is a small, but important, amendment to improve data protection with regard to traffic cameras and other devices. Subsection 8 of the new section 77A that is being inserted into the Roads Act 1993 relates to data-sharing agreements when data from the cameras and devices in question are to be shared. Section 77A(8) lists matters which may be specified in a data-sharing agreement. One...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I thank the Senator. As we discussed on Committee Stage, I share a lot of the concerns the Senators have with regard to the potential use of facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence machine process learning capabilities to infringe civil rights and therefore have to be treated with the utmost caution in terms of how we apply and deploy that technology . While I understand...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I will comment briefly. I am confident that the requirement and therefore the power of the Minister to issue regulations will allow us to provide the precautionary principle here and not allow the use of this technology. The proper drafting of legislation in this area requires further analysis and complex assessment, including what happens in Europe. We cannot just operate on signals from...

Seanad: Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2023)

Eamon Ryan: With the measures being included in the Bill it would become possible to declare a road or part of a road to be a national managed road. Where a road or part of a road has been declared to be a national management road, TII will be empowered to set special speed limits on the road. Senators will recall that the law on speed limits prescribes default limits for different classes of road. It...