Results 15,101-15,120 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Waste Management (22 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I hope that by the time she finishes school most of these measures will be in place and Ireland will be a better country. There will be less litter. As Senator Garvey said, in effect a third of every one of those bottles is filled with oil in order to make them. Reducing their usage and increasing recycling is part of the battle we have to take on against climate change and it will all be...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I am committed to achieving substantial carbon abatement across Ireland's society and economy, or helping our society to do that, and securing an efficient and low emission transport system. The programme for Government climate action commitments represent an important step up in ambition, seeking to fundamentally change the nature of transport in Ireland and achieve a 7% average annual...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Deputy O'Rourke is absolutely right to focus on Connecting Ireland as a key element in our transport plans. To achieve the level of emissions reductions will involve everywhere and every place matters. Connecting Ireland is critical to achieve the national planning framework objective of better balanced regional development. The programme for Government committed to significant...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I should have said that we will discuss this on Committee Stage. The joint committee did very useful and good work in its assessment of the climate Bill at the pre-legislative scrutiny stage. I was very aware of those hearings yesterday which were very useful and interesting. I look forward to reading the committee's report on transport because in my mind it is the most challenging issue....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I am in an awkward position because the Leas-Cheann Comhairle is much more knowledgeable and has seen the response, but I am reluctant for other Deputies not to have that information. I will happily come back to answer the Deputy's questions in the supplementary reply, if she does not mind me providing the baseline information which will inform other Deputies in the same way as the Deputy is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Galway transport strategy set outs three potential locations: one on the west side of the city on the Bearna-Rahoon corridor, and two on the east side on the Dublin Road corridor and on the Claregalway N17 corridor. It also suggests there may be opportunities for small-scale developments on the Moycullen and Headford corridors. The strategy notes that existing rail-based park-and-ride...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Park-and-Ride Facilities (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I agree about the merits of a feasibility study for light rail in Galway. We will commission and deliver that. It is best done within the review of the Galway transport strategy which is due next year. It would also be done then at a time when, all going well, we will know whether we have got the planning permission through for the cross-link route. That would be one obvious route which...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with the Deputy. I recognise that Covid-19 has had a profound impact on small businesses across the country, with the public transport sector being especially affected as public health restrictions have necessarily discouraged people from travelling generally. Taxi and other small public service vehicle operators, who are particularly dependent on the hospitality and tourism...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The €15 million in supports is designed for just those types of small individual taxi drivers and not for the big companies. It is a significant cash support, which increases further if drivers are using wheelchair-accessible vehicles. The uptake so far of 200 applications is a significant signal that this scheme is of real interest. It is a combination of that much-reduced cost of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Both Deputies are right that this is one of the industries which has suffered the worst. The ultimate way to get this industry restored is to see a return to normality in the coming months, with the roll-out of the vaccines and the lifting of restrictions, subject to the virus not taking off again, allowing business to come back. That is the first key thing that must happen. When I talk to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Deputy Gould is correct about the figure of 200 applications. That is the number of applications, however, and they have not all drawn down the grants yet. If they were all to draw down €20,000, however, then that would be €4 million out of a €15 million fund. I am confident and hopeful that we will allocate the full €15 million. It is still only a small...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: An efficient and low-emission public transport system forms a key part of this Government's vision for sustainable mobility. As public transport is responsible for less than 5% of our transport emissions, in absolute terms, converting public transport fleets to low-carbon alternatives will have a limited impact on national emission reductions. However, greening the public fleet does fulfil...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Government will develop and deliver a new clean air strategy which recognises exactly that, namely, that this is a matter of life and death in respect of which we need to be really progressive. We have started that with the provisions to end the burning of smoky fuels throughout the country, which is probably the most immediately critical initiative to improve air quality and which I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Transport (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I accept the NTA's explanation that, to date, the reason we have not purchased large numbers of double-deck electric vehicles is they were not available in models that were properly advanced or had been fully tested in the market. We are at the cutting edge of what is happening. It would be different if we had a bus transport system characterised by low, single-deck buses but we do not. In...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from councils' own resources and supplemented by State road grants. The national development plan, NDP, as it stands provides for the gradual build-up of funding for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: As I indicated in the response, those meetings will be important. The Deputy is right; one of the key issues here relates to that bridge and the fact that there have been a number of incidents in recent years, including flooding, as a result of which the bridge has had to be closed. It is a very old bridge in quite an exposed position, as are other sections of the roadway. The key question...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Projects (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The Deputy is right. The area is critical and Cobh is a very important destination and an historic location. There are other investments being made which I will mention when answering a later question. These relate to the development of greenways and urban development support for Cobh and the surrounding area. As the Deputy said, there is other transport infrastructure in the area. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I thank the Deputy very much. He is right. Since the question was asked, we have published both the original EY report and the second report, the Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions, JASPERS, review. These two reports provided critical answers to some of the questions asked about the western rail corridor. If I can widen out the question, the further review we are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I consider myself part of the system. System change is what we need to address the climate crisis we face. Part of that system change relates to transport. To go back to the earlier question, how do we go from releasing 12 million tonnes of carbon a year to releasing 6 million tonnes? One of the ways to do this is to change the entire transport system towards sustainable modes. The key...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rail Network (24 Mar 2021)

Eamon Ryan: It will take a number of months. As the Deputy suggested, all rail lines lead to Dublin and this review was initially looking at providing high-speed rail connectivity between Dublin, Cork and Belfast but we have extended it. We first looked at extending it to Derry or Limerick, or both. The conclusion of the western rail corridor analysis was that we needed to go wider and to look at the...