Results 8,621-8,640 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Transport Authority Remit (7 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: ​I am very much aware of the important interaction between land use planning and transport planning. They are inherently linked and are mutually reinforcing. At present, in making a regional spatial and economic strategy, a Regional Assembly is required to consult the planning authorities within the region. However, within the Greater Dublin Area, there is a further statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Service Obligation Services (7 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: ​Under section 50 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has the statutory power to determine if a public service obligation is to be applied in respect of any public passenger transport service. If the NTA makes such a determination then it must enter into a public services contract with the relevant operator and that contract must comply...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Services Provision (7 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: ​The Cleggan Volunteer Coast Guard Unit, which is designated as a shoreline search unit, is currently operating out of an old Coast Guard station, traditionally designated as a Rocket House. The Coast Guard, which is a Division of my Department, is committed to securing a more suitable base or site, on which to situate the local unit. My Department has requested the Office of Public...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Sports Facilities Provision (7 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: ​My officials have been engaging with Sport Ireland on various elements of the proposed second phase of the National Indoor Arena, including the Cost Benefit Analysis for the project.  Any proposal to proceed with the second phase will be subject in the normal way to the availability of capital funding.  The question of funding for the second phase of the...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rural Transport Services Provision (7 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: ​The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for integrated local and rural transport, including management of the Rural Transport Programme funded by my Department. The NTA is preparing a report for my Department, in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, examining the way in which existing routes can be made more sustainable and...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Road Improvement Schemes (7 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this very important issue. I was not aware of the fatality to which he referred but I join him in expressing my sympathy to the families involved in yet another tragedy on our roads. It is particularly sad considering that the Senator is talking about the safety aspects of this road, a subject underlined by this tragedy. The dangerous aspect of this...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Road Improvement Schemes (7 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I thank the Senator and reassure him road safety and, consequently, the identification of roads will be a high priority. When this is being considered, the tragedies which have occurred will be a matter of serious consideration.

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for his question. Regarding the industrial relations issues at Bus Éireann, I have been clear in my calls for discussions between the two relevant parties, the management and trade unions, to commence immediately. I do not doubt that those discussions will be difficult. However, it is obvious that they must occur. As I clarified to the joint Oireachtas...

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Troy for his remarks. I think he misunderstood me. I will reread what I said as I do not think he heard it. I stated, "there was no such report submitted to my Department in January 2016". Many proposals were made and many reports were submitted at the time. Many reports were made to Bus Éireann management. There was no such report made to me in 2016. I did have...

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Deputy Troy asked me about what he referred to as my "negotiations" with the chair. I do not have negotiations with the chair. The chair will, hopefully, have negotiations with the unions in the time to come. I talked to the chair, I asked him to be accountable for his stewardship and I asked him about his plans. The Deputy asked whether I told him there should be no preconditions. I...

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Both parties are making themselves available, supposedly without preconditions, yet they are not meeting. It is an absurd situation. I can only say this: I hope and believe that they will come together - I appeal to them to do so - without preconditions because there is no other way out of this dispute.

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: ​The Deputy is aware of my stated and consistent position in this regard. I am fully aware of the problems faced by Bus Éireann and I am acutely sensitive to the fact 20 February is an important day in the calendar for Bus Éireann and its staff and workforce, to which the Deputy referred. The company must address the financial losses it incurs as a result of its loss-making...

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I have debated this with Deputy Munster several times. I thoroughly respect the position she is taking. I ask her not to say I am asking the workers in the company to accept 30% cuts. I am asking nothing; I am making no comment on the demands of either side. The Deputy knows that and everybody else knows that. At this stage, I ask only that the unions and the management come together and...

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I cannot spell it out more clearly. Both sides have used those words. The Deputy is saying she does not believe one but she believes the other. I happen to believe both; I think they both genuinely mean what they say about this. I think this will lead to them talking at some stage. If people, either on the union or management side, have said what they want prior to coming together that...

Priority Questions: Rail Services Provision (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Following a review of the business case for the DART underground project and the recommendation of the NTA following that review, the Government decided in September 2015 not to activate the compulsory purchase order powers of the railway order for the project and, instead, to seek a new railway order for a lower-cost revised scheme. The NTA identified that the DART underground project could...

Priority Questions: Rail Services Provision (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: That is an operational matter for Iarnród Éireann and I will refer the Deputy's question to it and see what its plans are in that regard.

Priority Questions: Rail Services Provision (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I will try to update the Deputy on what is happening. In September 2015, the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, recommended that the tunnel element of the DART expansion programme should not proceed as currently designed but should be redesigned, as recommended, to provide a lower cost technical solution. This project will cost in the order of €4 billion. It has to be...

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for his question. As he will note from our encounters here and at the Oireachtas joint committee, the responses I have been making on this matter have been consistent and fairly clear. The company is losing money and those losses must be addressed. The losses arise primarily as a result of the poor performance of its commercial Expressway services, services which do not,...

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: To address the Deputy's supplementary on the subvention first, he will be aware that the subsidy in past two years increased and it is my intention to increase it even further in the coming years. I have no wish to see any loss of services to people throughout the country who need that subvention and connectivity. That particularly applies to rural Ireland. I do not see what Stepaside...

Priority Questions: Bus Éireann (8 Feb 2017)

Shane Ross: Deputy Barry accused me of repeating the same mantra. He is more repetitive than I am. It is quite extraordinary and that is quite an achievement. He has managed to bring Stepaside into it and has repeated the mantra as frequently as I have. That is pretty good going. The answer to his question is the same as the one I have given him previously. Intervention is a matter for the...