Results 8,041-8,060 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I met my counterparts, Mr. Simon Hamilton, MLA, Minister for the Economy and Mr. Chris Hazzard, MLA, Minister for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland in July and November of this year at the North-South Ministerial Council.  Both council meetings considered the implications of the result of the UK referendum.  Full sectoral audits have been carried...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I have met Tourism Ireland on several occasions, including formally at my office and less formally on other occasions. I am in constant contact with Tourism Ireland on various issues, including Brexit. It is a group I have met more times than any other, although often for only a very short time. We have discussed the issue of Brexit at great length. Tourism Ireland had a great deal to...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Smarter Transport (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Ryan for his question on this issue which I know he is particularly interested in. As the Deputy is aware, Smarter Travel: a New Transport Policy for Ireland 2009-2020, was launched in January 2009. The targets set out in that policy were broad and ambitious. As it turns out, they were over-ambitious.  The goal of the policy was to reduce private car use by...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Smarter Transport (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I share the Deputy's aspirations and aims. The timetable has gone askew. That is obviously a product of the financial crisis, but that does not mean that we do not still have ambitions. We still have those ambitions and commitments. I accept the fact that if there are clean, good and efficient public transport services in Dublin, it will very definitely contribute towards a reduction in...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Smarter Transport (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I love the rhetoric. I would love to be a climate justice champion. It would be a great ambition. Ultimately, the exigencies of the Exchequer make it very difficult to do everything we would like to do in such a short period. I acknowledge that the Deputy has mentioned cycling and other modes of transport. Significant funds are awarded to the NTA and the GDA annually for the delivery of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Smarter Transport (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I am glad that the Deputy mentioned that matter. I am meeting the Minister for Communications, Climate Change and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, tomorrow morning and my officials very shortly to consider what the targets will be. This time we want to make them absolutely realistic. We want them to be within the financial constraints and do not want to overshoot the mark like we did...

Other Questions: Motor Insurance (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I have not arranged a meeting with the Minister for Finance to specifically discuss the cost of motor insurance. My officials have met Department of Finance officials through a joint group that carried out a review of the future framework for motor insurance compensation in Ireland following the Setanta Insurance liquidation case. The report of the group is available on the Department of...

Other Questions: Motor Insurance (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and accept that fully. I will not consider that at the moment, Deputy, but when we met the insurance companies, we faced a lack of adequate information. That is why we have sought for them to revert to us with more information. We are keen to get information about who is insured. That database should be improved. Once we have the information on who is...

Other Questions: Motor Insurance (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: Not in my experience. It has not happened yet.

Other Questions: Airport Charges (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: As the Deputy will be aware, the daa has statutory responsibility to manage, operate and develop Dublin Airport. I have made no proposals to the daa on airport charges, as the setting of such charges at Dublin Airport, within the regulatory framework established by statute, is an operational matter for the daa. The Commission for Aviation Regulation, CAR, regulates airport charges levied...

Other Questions: Airport Charges (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I do not feel more muzzled. I regret if the reply is not satisfactory. Nobody has done more in terms of meeting the residents who live close to the airport and passing on their views about the noise regime in which they find themselves currently. The Deputy should be aware that this is just in the 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. period, which arguably is night time. It is a massive and further...

Other Questions: Airport Charges (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: A new regime and a statutory instrument will come in very shortly, hopefully, in the new year. When it comes in, the IAA will undoubtedly undertake a review of the noise situation at Dublin Airport. It will not be the same situation where a State monopoly dominated all action at the airport up to now and with whom the residents have had contact but have not had what they describe as...

Other Questions: Harbour Authorities (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and not for the first time. I think he has another question on it later which looks enormously like a duplicate.

Other Questions: Harbour Authorities (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: It gives him a chance for two extra supplementaries later on.

Other Questions: Harbour Authorities (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: As the Deputy is aware, the Harbours Act 2015 provides the legislative basis for one of the key recommendations in the national ports policy, namely, that governance of the five ports of regional significance should vest in local authority led governance structures. Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, as a port of regional significance, is designated under the policy for transfer to...

Other Questions: Harbour Authorities (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I share the belief that it has taken far too long. Dún Laoghaire is certainly the slowest of these ports that will be taken into local authority control. I accept that the delay in decision making and progress in any direction is not satisfactory. However, I am very reluctant to interfere in a situation of this sort when it is really a matter for the local authority and the harbour...

Other Questions: Harbour Authorities (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I think "seizing control" is emotive language of the kind I might have used when I was sitting in the Deputy's seat but which I would not use from here. The Deputy can be assured that I understand and share his impatience. I also share his views about the doubtful nature of some of the schemes that have been put forward such as cruise terminals. In respect of where the funding for such a...

Other Questions: Transport Policy (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for his question. The capital plan published in September 2015 outlined proposed transport investment priorities to 2022. The transport element of the plan was framed by the conclusions reached in my Department's strategic investment framework for land transport. This report highlighted the importance of maintenance and renewal of transport infrastructure together with...

Other Questions: Transport Policy (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for his suggestion. Nobody would realistically underestimate the traffic problems, particularly in the capital city. It would be unrealistic for me, as Minister, to suggest anything else. I acknowledge the difficulties, particularly with the M50 and in Dublin city centre. We need a certain amount of patience at the moment because a large number of the plans we have...

Other Questions: Transport Policy (7 Dec 2016)

Shane Ross: In response to Deputy Durkan, if any public private partnerships are produced to the NTA, I would certainly encourage it to look at them. There must be such possibilities around the country. A large number of people have looked at them and suggested that they were not commercially viable, but if anything commercially viable is proposed and it is socially acceptable, it should, of course, be...