Results 7,061-7,080 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: Tourism Ireland and my Department are determined to get the message out that it is business as usual in the new situation. I am not suggesting that we should be complacent, but the Deputy should remember that it is not all bad news. We will obviously be looking for new markets but the exchange rate only affects our relationship in this way with Britain at the moment. Those British people...

Priority Questions: Tourism Industry (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: It must be remembered that although Great Britain accounts for 41% of the tourists who visit here, it only accounts for 23% of revenue spent here.

Priority Questions: Transport Infrastructure Provision (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: This question is similar to one asked by Deputy Troy previously, but then I believe it was specific to the M50, which is only part of the traffic congestion problem. I am grateful to Deputy Troy for addressing the matter in a wider form. Increasing capacity in our public transport system and improving the quality of public transport services is key to addressing congestion in the greater...

Priority Questions: Transport Infrastructure Provision (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: It is very easy for Deputy Troy to say that while sitting there with a blank chequebook. The restrictions are not in terms of strategy or vision; they are because of the shortage of money for many years, as the Deputy is aware. The strategy is quite clear and I would have thought it was very obvious. There is very definitely a strategy behind this, which is the strategy of taking cars off...

Priority Questions: Transport Infrastructure Provision (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I can understand what Deputy Troy is saying but I reject what he says about there being no strategy at all. Within the constraints there are some very heavy projects and commitments. Not all of them can be delivered immediately because of financial constraints, but there are some very imaginative projects that will be. I do not know if the Deputy wants to scrap the metro north - maybe...

Priority Questions: Road Tolls (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: ​I thank the Deputy for her question. I am not familiar with the exact situation she is referring to, but I have learnt a fair amount about it in the past 24 hours and I am grateful to the Deputy for pointing the situation out. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding of the national roads programme. The planning, design...

Priority Questions: Road Tolls (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I am impressed with what the Deputy says, but I think this may be a double-edged sword. As so often happens in this House, the Deputy is asking me to do things I am not empowered to do. I will meet the TII very shortly. I cannot remember the date; it is either in the next week or two or in August. If the Deputy gives me a briefing on this I will give it to the TII at that meeting. I am...

Priority Questions: Road Tolls (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I am not going to invite a delegation to see the town at this stage, but, as I said, I will put the case the Deputy has made, see what the TII has to say about it, and inform the Deputy of the result, because I think that is important. If the tolls were simply to be removed from the interchange, it might be expected to create a diversion from the M1 at this junction, attracting other traffic...

Priority Questions: Road Tolls (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: ​I thank the Deputy for his question. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding for the national roads programme. The planning, design and operation of individual road projects is a matter for TII under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Furthermore, the statutory power to levy...

Priority Questions: Road Tolls (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I will not intervene directly at this stage because it would not be appropriate. The affairs of a private company are involved and a Minister would be very reluctant to become involved, especially when, as far as I can see, this is a commercial dispute about charges. As I said to Deputy Munster, when I meet TII I will raise the issue again. I will ask what it thinks, if anything, can be...

Priority Questions: Road Tolls (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I am conscious that eFlow has approximately 300,000 tag account customers. I understand it has already notified customers of the change. As I said, it is currently implementing a communications plan to contact all customers, including those who use CRG toll roads by phone, e-mail, SMS and letter. It will also be running a broader communications plan in the national and local media and...

Other Questions: Road Network (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I do not disagree with the sentiments of Deputy Troy that the roads are in dire need of additional funds. It is something we are addressing as a matter of urgency. As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in regard to the national roads programme. The construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads is a...

Other Questions: Road Network (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I am afraid it is a reality in which we are now working. I remind the Deputy that public funding for Ireland's national roads fell significantly during the recession. From a peak of €1.75 billion in 2007, capital and current expenditure on national roads reduced to €433 million in 2015. The start of year capital and current expenditure allocation for 2016 is €402...

Other Questions: Road Network (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I assure the Deputy that I will do everything I can in the coming months to ensure that we have a capital budget for the motorways and other roads that is as large as possible, because I am aware of the problem every day of my life. What is called the steady State expenditure, which is such a high proportion of the money we have spent on roads, explains a lot of the problem to which the...

Other Questions: Road Improvement Schemes (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: ​The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is a statutory function of local authorities in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on such roads are a matter for the relevant local authority to be funded from its own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of projects to be funded from...

Other Questions: Road Improvement Schemes (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: First, I will outline my understanding of the scheme. Grant funding was provided under the scheme for road improvement works on the Clarke’s Hill-Moneygourney Road. Funding totalling approximately €3 million was provided between 2001 and 2005 and the works were undertaken in phases, with the most recent phase covering a section from Foxwood, where the previous contract ended,...

Other Questions: Road Improvement Schemes (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I hope I can help the Deputy in this matter. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, together with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, has announced the establishment, as referred to by the Deputy, of the local infrastructure housing activation fund of €150 million, to be matched by €50 million in local authority funding to relieve critical...

Other Questions: Road Improvement Schemes (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: Are we taking them separately?

Other Questions: Road Improvement Schemes (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I think grouping is gone, is it not?

Other Questions: Harbour Authorities (19 Jul 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this issue. I am not sure how helpful I can be to him, but I will be as helpful as I possibly can. I understand that the Deputy has previously raised these issues with my predecessors in relation to payments to the CEO of the port company and concerning payments made to a director of the company. Every commercial State body must disclose the...