Results 6,921-6,940 of 9,184 for speaker:Jack Chambers

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Waterways Issues (21 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: A survey application has been received and the timing of any survey rests with the owner. They must make the necessary arrangements to facilitate both safe access onboard and the MSO’s survey requirements. The MSO is awaiting further developments in this regard.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Tolls (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: As the Deputy will be aware, the National Development Plan 2000–2006 first identified PPPs as a mechanism to facilitate the delivery of an extensive roads programme. There are now eight PPP toll roads in the State. These eight roads were constructed and are now operated and maintained under long-term contracts with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII. Revenue generated by these...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Tolls (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: As I have said, the setting of tolls is a statutory function for TII and in those contracts there was a connection between toll increases and the CPI. The Deputy mentioned a few services that relate to the maintenance of our national roads and motorways, but asset renewal is a key part of that and probably one of the biggest cost implications for both public roads and roads that have a toll,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Tolls (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I acknowledge the impact of the increased tolls on motorists and families. That is why we deferred the increase for six months. We have a vast motorway network that was developed through PPPs. People can be critical of them. Neither I or the Deputy were in the House at the time. To be fair, at the time they delivered an infrastructural outcome that has helped connect Ireland and built...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: The rail freight market in Ireland is open. Currently, a commercial arm of Iarnród Éireann is active in the sector. While the rail freight industry has declined in Ireland in recent decades, there are clear opportunities for growth, as demonstrated by the success of the existing Ballina corridor. Since Brexit, trade patterns between Ireland and continental Europe have shifted...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: Two things are happening, as I said in the previous response. The draft all-island rail review will be published in July for the purposes of environmental assessment and is to be finalised in the autumn. Separately, we will be commencing a review of our national ports policy. We will be publishing an issues paper on that in the coming weeks which will set out the trajectory on capacity for...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: The draft review will be published for environmental assessment in the coming weeks. We will welcome everyone's engagement on it. There is a lot of commentary about Dublin Port and being able to move it at the flick of a switch or turn it into a strategic zone for housing. It plays a hugely important role in our economy. Given the trade and logistics network that has evolved over decades,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: There is a huge range of activity occurring across the rail network to improve rail transport for passengers with a variety of projects set for delivery over the next few years. In the short term we will see a new station opening at Kishogue on the Kildare line late this year; new rail carriages entering into service next year through the addition of 41 new carriages to the intercity fleet;...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: The next iteration in terms of decision-making will be the all-island strategic rail review. It will inform the development and decision-making of inter-urban and inter-regional rail across the island over the coming decades. It provides the strategic backdrop to rail investment in our region that the Jaspers review noted was lacking when considering phases 2 and 3 of the corridor. The...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: Thankfully, because of the management of the economy and the fact that we are running budgetary surpluses, we have the opportunity to invest in line with our enormous ambition for capital investment in rail infrastructure and other areas. We are ambitious. We have to do that in a strategic way. The rail review will provide an opportunity for that. A significant milestone in the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Transport Authority (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: This question may have been submitted prior to last week's public meeting at which it was agreed, as we can now confirm, that funding of €280,000 is being provided to Tipperary County Council to allow this project to proceed to the next stage of development, which is known as phase 3 - preliminary design. I know the Deputy will welcome that decision. I thank him and other local...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Transport Authority (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I thank the Deputy. As he has said, there is a long history to this. Having been down there last week - the Deputy was there as well - I understand it is important from a road safety perspective that we see progress on the preliminary design work and hopefully a planning application after it. It is in the interests of providing safe active travel for the community in Ardfinnan that there...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Transport Authority (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: We are at a point in progress that was not there two weeks ago, as the Deputy is aware. Thanks to the strong advocacy of all public representatives and the community council, we are now in a position to develop that preliminary design. There has to be a process around design and planning for every aspect of public infrastructure. I am sure the NTA and the council will be able to provide...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII ultimately delivers the national...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: The only decision made has been to allocate funding for 2023. No decision has been made for 2024. That decision will be made later in the year for every national road in the national development plan. I want to give clarity on that. Having met with the council, I know there is a poor safety record on the N17. The Deputy is also correct that this road is important for healthcare, regional...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: There are a number of roads around Letterkenny listed in the national development plan, as part of the overall TEN-T network. This proposed project will remove through traffic from a number of towns and villages, which will have positive social and environmental impacts on local residents. Road users will benefit from improved journey time certainty. The project also provides the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: As part of action 6 of the Government’s road safety strategy, a review is under way to examine the framework for setting speed limits, including specific consideration of the introduction of a 30 km/h default speed limit in urban areas. The group was established in late 2021 and comprised representatives of the Department of Transport, NTA, TII, local authorities, the RSA and An Garda...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: I agree. That has been one of the main issues identified by the Road Safety Authority in the context of the worrying trend whereby we have seen road fatalities increase in three of the last four years. Unfortunately, that trend has continued into 2023. As of 20 June, there have been 83 fatalities on Irish roads, an increase of eight compared with the same day last year. These include 20...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Safety (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: On Deputy Ó Cuív's point, significant data have been compiled by the Road Safety Authority on many of the fatalities and the trends across fatalities. Speed and excess speed are key factors in urban areas in cases where pedestrians or cyclists have lost their lives. The wider review of speed limits is also examining the huge inconsistency between speed limits, as well as excessive...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (22 Jun 2023)

Jack Chambers: As I have said previously, once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII ultimately delivers the national roads...