Results 1,221-1,240 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Written Answers — Toll Charges: Toll Charges (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: The licence fee, also described as the State's share of the gross toll revenues, payable by NTR to the State under the terms of the West-Link Bridge toll agreement was reduced by €2.902 million in respect of 2002 and €3.529 million in respect of 2003. The total licence fee paid to the State in respect of 2002 and 2003 toll revenues was €7.585 million and €8.044 million, respectively....

Written Answers — Road Network: Road Network (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: Work is complete or under way on about 45% of the major inter-urban road routes at present, that is, the routes serving Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Dundalk. Work is due to get under way on the final section, Dundalk-Border, of the M1 and on phase 1 of the Kinnegad-Athlone section of the N6 this year. Investment in these routes to date has targeted the removal of major bottlenecks...

Written Answers — Road Safety: Road Safety (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: A disproportionate number of cyclists' fatalities are through collisions with heavy goods vehicles. Developments at EU level will result in new heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, having to comply with higher standards in relation to the fields of vision of drivers. In November 2003, the EU adopted Directive 2003/97/EC, which provides for an extension of the field of vision to address the issue of...

Written Answers — Road Safety: Road Safety (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: In 2000, an interdepartmental working group, chaired by the Dublin Transportation Office, DTO, was formed consisting of representatives from the Departments of Health and Children, Education and Science and Environment, Heritage and Local Government, National Parents Council, public transport operators and local authorities in order to initiate some pilot safer routes to school schemes in the...

Written Answers — Light Rail Project: Light Rail Project (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 139 and 168 together. The Railway Procurement Agency, RPA, is currently developing proposals for extensions of the Luas to the docklands and Cherrywood. This work includes consultation, design and route planning. A particular feature of the work concerns the issue of private sector funding captured through levies, provided for under planning legislation, from...

Written Answers — Transport Projects: Transport Projects (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: The north-west region is served by two airports, Donegal Regional Airport and City of Derry Airport. The Government has a long-standing policy of assisting City of Derry Airport on the basis that the natural catchment area of the airport includes east Donegal. My Department will continue to support both airports, and air access to the region in general, in keeping with commitments made in the...

Written Answers — State Airports: State Airports (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Irish Aviation Authority has statutory responsibility for regulating the technical and safety aspects of civil aviation and for the provision of air traffic services. In 2004 the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, engaged independent consultants to carry out a strategic review of its operations in the areas of air traffic control and management systems covering the years 2005 to 2010. The...

Written Answers — Road Safety: Road Safety (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: I am not aware of the research to which the Deputy refers. The effectiveness of the penalty points system can be judged primarily on the basis of the contribution it has made to road safety since its introduction. In the first two years since the introduction of the system in October 2002, the number of deaths as a result of road collisions fell by 116 by comparison to the previous two years....

Written Answers — Private Sector Funding: Private Sector Funding (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 143, 169, 170 and 357 together. I dealt in detail with the future ownership of Aer Lingus in response to a priority question on the matter. On staff shareholding in Aer Lingus, following the allocation of employee share ownership plan, ESOP, shares last August, the staff currently hold 14.9% of the company. In accordance with the terms of the ESOP agreement...

Written Answers — Public Transport: Public Transport (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: I wish to advise the Deputy that Dublin Bus began to transfer buses to Harristown in October 2004 and the depot will be officially opened shortly. Harristown has capacity for 240 buses and the depot will cater for 199 buses immediately. The new garage is required because the Dublin Bus fleet of buses grew from approximately 900 buses in 1997 to 1,062 buses in 2004. Harristown now enables the...

Written Answers — Road Network: Road Network (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Exchequer provision for 2005 for national road improvement and maintenance, including a carryover of €42 million from 2004 is €1.415 billion, an increase of 15% on the 2004 outturn. This allows for good progress to be maintained on the national roads programme and will fund 20 major projects, nearly 200 km, in construction, including Kinnegad-Enfield on the N4, Dundalk western bypass,...

Written Answers — Transport Projects: Transport Projects (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: I assume the Deputy is referring to the report, A Vision of Transport in Ireland in 2050, published in September 2004 by the Irish Academy of Engineering. The report outlines a vision of transport in Ireland in 2050 and while the report is not a transport plan or a set of transport proposals it is a useful input to the longer-term transport planning process. The concepts and ideas contained...

Written Answers — Ministerial Appointments: Ministerial Appointments (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: Following my appointment to the Department of Transport, I have appointed Colin Hunt as a special adviser in accordance with section 11 of the Public Service Management Act 1997. Mr. Hunt's contract was laid before the Houses on 10 January 2005.

Written Answers — Road Safety: Road Safety (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Road Traffic (Ordinary Speed Limits — Certain Vehicles) Regulations 2005, SI 9 of 2005, made by me on 12 January 2005 prescribe maximum speed limits for certain classes of vehicles from 20 January 2005. The speed limit of 80 km/h limit has been prescribed for vehicles that have accommodation for more than eight passengers, for goods vehicles having a design gross weight in excess of...

Written Answers — Traffic Management: Traffic Management (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 151 and 158 together. Proposals are being pursued in my Department to ensure that measures are taken to improve public transport flows and to reduce congestion. The objective of providing bus priority measures is to assist bus operators in meeting their schedules thereby assisting in the achievement of modal shift from the private car to public transport. My...

Written Answers — Road Safety: Road Safety (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 and 167 together. The Government strongly pursued the implementation of its first strategy for road safety 1998-2002. The strategy prioritised a systematic and co-ordinated set of measures for preventing and reducing road accidents. By the end of the period of the first strategy almost all the measures set out were either fully or partially implemented....

Written Answers — Road Safety: Road Safety (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 156 and 162. The Road Traffic Act 2004 establishes that the default speed limit on national roads in rural areas is 100 km/h. This provision came into force on 20 January 2005. It is a matter for each county or city council to determine whether the default speed limit at any particular location should be replaced through the deployment of a special speed...

Written Answers — Road Network: Road Network (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: Electronic toll collection is in use on existing toll plazas and will be used on all future toll schemes. Electronic toll collection does not require legislation for its use. However, the electronic toll collection systems in place use a barrier as the main enforcement tool. Toll operators do not consider the existing legislative arrangements robust enough to support a move to barrier free...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: The proposed directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on emissions from air conditioning systems in motor vehicles and amending Council Directive 70/156/EEC is progressing through the Community's deliberative process. The directive will lay down the requirements for the EC type-approval of vehicles as regards emissions from, and the safe functioning of, air conditioning systems...

Written Answers — Public Transport: Public Transport (15 Feb 2005)

Martin Cullen: The Dublin Transportation Office's report, A Platform for Change, provides the transport planning framework for the development of the transport system in the greater Dublin area up to 2016 and is being used by my Department to guide the preparation of a ten year transport investment framework. The Dublin Transportation Office has recently commenced preliminary work on updating A Platform for...