Results 6,121-6,140 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Proposed Legislation. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: I accept the Deputy's point. I expect to transpose into Irish law what I set out regarding civil aviation safety issues a few moments ago.

Proposed Legislation. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: I expect to do it soon.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81, 120 and 134 together. I am currently implementing a number of policies and measures that will deliver a sustainable transport system, including the provision of supply side infrastructure and demand side management measures, which will reduce congestion and support a modal shift from private to public transport. This will allow the economy to maintain...

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: There has been a substantial increase in investment in public transport under this Government, as the Deputy rightly mentioned. One of the challenges the Government faced in its early years in office was dealing with a railway network that, by 1997, needed massive investment to prevent it from having to be decommissioned entirely. The Government spent more than €1.5 billion to restructure...

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: While I accept that this investment in public transport will not solve all the problems in this regard——

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: ——it is certainly very significant. The Government intends to achieve the 5.5% bio-fuels target, which has been set under an EU directive, by the target date of 2010. It is clear that the arrival of more energy-efficient cars on the market is having an effect. Similarly, better quality roads are helping to reduce emissions.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: I just mentioned the target.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: It has.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: We are working under the EU directive.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: Despite what Deputy Eamon Ryan said — he obviously does not have the full facts — Ireland was the only country to be given an increase on its 1990 base level. Ireland has been allowed to have growth of 13%, whereas most other countries have had to face reductions. Deputy Ryan correctly stated that we are above the allowed figure at present, but it was never stated that we would achieve...

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: I have said three times that——

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: We do not sign international agreements for fun. We sign international agreements with the intention of adhering to the targets set out in them. We will achieve the targets to which we subscribe.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: Yes, I have set out how we will achieve the targets.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: We will achieve them by investing in public transport.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: We will achieve the 5.75% target on the bio-fuels side, which has been set out under an EU directive and has to be achieved by 2010. The transport figure has grown for many reasons, the most important of which relates to Ireland's thriving economy.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: We are not. Despite the increase in the number of cars from 750,000 to 2.2 million, we are actually still under the EU average for car ownership, which is interesting.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: Car usage is as high in many other countries as it is in Ireland.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: Approximately 50% of those who use the Luas system have made a modal shift from cars to public transport. We can be confident that the development of the two proposed metro lines and the seven proposed Luas lines or extensions will lead to similar modal shifts.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: There will be a shift from car use.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (21 Feb 2007)

Martin Cullen: The tragedy of this complex debate, in which I was involved when I served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, is that it tends to focus on small elements of the system. As a society we need to maintain our quality of life and the success of the economy while striking an environmental balance on the other side of the equation. While those two agendas are often in...