Results 27,341-27,360 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: When European funding was available, we deliberately submitted the Cork metropolitan rail project because we wanted to signify its importance.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: The first thing that needs to be done is the twin track from Midleton into Kent.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: A large amount of signalling work needs to be done. The Chair is aware of the importance of that work. The other key initial development has to do with being able to run through Kent Station. The platform is there-----

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I will answer the question now. A new passing platform is needed at Kent Station. That element will be up and running in 2026. Funding for it will amount to approximately €185 million. The stations will follow. In my mind, it will not be long after. I attended the opening of a DART station the other day. Strangely, stations are not as complex or difficult as some of the...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: -----dock activity. There are some difficult aspects to that, though.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: Yes.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I am happy to do so. As I said to the Deputy, publicly in the Dáil and elsewhere, I am absolutely committed. The priority needs to be on bypasses around the country, such as Castlemartyr and Killeagh, in places that are choked with through traffic. That is the first priority. To be honest, from my side, the funding is provided there. I am just as keen as the Deputy to get that...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I am very keen to see it go as fast as it can. I will say one thing in terms of the issues of flooding, design of roads and so on. It can bring complexities. We might look at what happened on the Dunkettle roundabout. That took quite a long time because it was dealing with an area that historically floods. My understanding with Castlemartyr is that someone would obviously take one side,...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I thank the Deputy. There are so many projects at which we need to look. Investing in roads that improve towns and bring bypasses will really bring benefit. I can give two examples. My Department will be directing funding at a local road across Garryvoe that will connect the university with the main national road to Dublin. That is an example of a project that brings real strategic...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I do not like delay. Time costs money and, therefore, it is better to do things quickly. There has been a strategic shift, however. We have a programme for Government, which is allocating 2:1 in favour of public transport versus roads and 10% of the budget to active travel. I would argue the case for that is because the public transport has been underinvested in. I will go back to what...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: That is the public spending code.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I am equally frustrated.

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: There is a significant review. The Department of public expenditure and reform realises the situation. Some of it is the result of the financial crash. We have created an elaborate gate system through which people have to go for the likes of the children's hospital. Someone said to me that going from idea to completion takes many different permissions. The situation is overly elaborate...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Estimates for Public Service 2023
Vote 31 - Transport (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: It is, and it needs to happen quicker.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I thank the Chair and members of the committee for inviting me here as part of the enhanced climate governance and reporting processes that were put in place by the Climate Act 2021. This provision in the Act supports greater transparency and accountability in how we plan and deliver our climate action. This committee has a critical role in this process, in reviewing the latest...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: It is a corrective process. We have not yet gone to the Government and we are going to have to do so, which will happen before we break for Christmas. It will have to contain a variety of additional measures. It will not be significantly different from the 2023 plan, which was a significant step up, and in a number of sectors it is a matter of delivering what is committed to and promised....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: I completely accept that. The scale of the challenge should not be underestimated. It is not an easy one. There are two or three things which will help. First, the governance structures we have are serving us. I refer to the CCAC, with its recommendations and review, and the back-up information provided by the EPA, SEAI and other entities that do the modelling for us. We have a good...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: No, but tens of thousands of people are employed in the companies associated with those data centres. The data centres are the core of their business. These are all cloud-based companies now. That the cloud-based companies are here is a significant reason for other investments coming here. We have been working with the companies on the basis that any new data centres will have to live...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Climate Action Plan Review: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Nov 2023)

Eamon Ryan: There are quite a few points and I will try to deal with them all. I will pick up on the two points on vehicles and retrofits as examples of where progress is possible. In both cases, we are ahead of target. Although I do not have the exact final figure, more than 37,000 houses will be retrofitted this year, which is ahead of what was planned. The low-interest loans which will kick in...