Results 15,641-15,660 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taxi Licences (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: Can I just answer one more?

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Taxi Licences (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: The Deputy was asking specific questions. It is very difficult to answer them all when he asks a lot. He asked me specifically when I last met the taxi advisory committee. I am not certain but I meet them regularly. From memory it was not that long ago. I have not met it specifically about the taxi hackneys but that certainly would be on the agenda if the committee put it down. It...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Preparations (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Munster for her question. The green card is issued within the 48 countries covered by the Council of Bureaux for motor insurance and is a document whose production may be required to prove that insurance cover is in place for vehicles travelling between these countries, where alternative legislative provisions are not in place. All EU member states are party to this system but...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Preparations (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: Obviously, the Deputy is very well aware of the numbers of these green cards that will be needed and possibly applied for and distributed by the insurance companies. The insurance companies are taking the initiative in this and they will be printing at a rate of knots to satisfy a demand that may or may not exist. This is a preparatory move. I do not need to flag it with them; they are...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Preparations (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: The Deputy is asking about the interventions. The Government has raised this matter directly with the European Commission and we have looked to it for a date from which green cards would not be required. That would satisfy the Deputy and many of her constituents who would be travelling backwards and forwards across the Border. It is a matter between the EU and the UK and it would be wholly...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I thank Deputy Troy. All of us are aware that increasing numbers of people are choosing to use public transport and all of us will, I am sure, welcome that fact. The Deputy is right to say that these increases can cause pressures at certain times and in certain places on the capacity of the public transport system. I hope he will acknowledge that there are short, medium and longer-term...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I thank the Deputy for his question. The issue of the cuts because of the national children's hospital overrun is something I am very happy to address. I can confirm categorically that there will not be any cuts in any projects or any roads as a result of that. It is important that the Deputy should know that. It will not have any impact on our public transport projects. The Deputy will...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I will always urge the National Transport Authority, NTA, to look at anything which might be a solution but I am sure it is looking at it already. It regularly looks at alternative suggestions if there is overcrowding in various areas and the overcrowding which the Deputy has spoken about certainly applies sometimes to various services. Alternatives are looked at and produced when that...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: -----which equates to approximately 95 busses being replaced each year out a current total complement of 1,136 vehicles.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network Expansion (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: MetroLink is one of the flagship projects proposed for delivery under Project Ireland 2040. The project envisages the development of a north-south urban railway service that will run between Swords and Sandyford, connecting key destinations along the 26 km route. A large proportion of the route will be underground, including where it passes under the important city centre area and Dublin...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network Expansion (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I appreciate the frustration which the Deputy is expressing about the northside but it is not just a northside problem. It is not something which is just affecting the northside and it not just because of the delays in the planning that is going on in the southside around the emerging route and the preferred route. All of those are factors of course but there have also been factors on the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network Expansion (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I fully understand why Deputy Brendan Ryan says that, but some people on the south side would probably say that they recognise the difficulties, delays and objections on the northside.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network Expansion (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: It is. There are also the planning difficulties being experienced there in various areas. This is not a one-sided coin. There will always be planning difficulties, objections and public consultations. There will always be controversies about a project as big as this. We cannot object to the people of the southside having their say and having public consultations in Ranelagh and...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rail Network Expansion (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: No. It will be a great project that links north and south. When it comes to fruition in 2027 we will all welcome it.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Driver Test Waiting Lists (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I am very aware of the current wait times for driving tests across the country. I accept that these waiting times remain high but I am assured that measures being put in place by the Road Safety Authority, RSA, are working towards reducing waiting times for the public. The authority's target for a national average waiting time for a driving test is no longer than ten weeks. The current...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Driver Test Waiting Lists (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I do not know how many are due to retire this year. I will give the Deputy some figures that are quite optimistic, although they might not please him much because of that. In his area the average waiting time in Athlone is 8.7 weeks and the longest waiting time is nine weeks. In Longford, the average waiting time is 10.9 weeks, which is again below the national average, and in Mullingar it...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Driver Test Waiting Lists (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: We are not far off it. The RSA has targeted ten weeks and it has hit 12 weeks, so it is not far off. To make it mandatory would be extremely difficult. I would love to see it below double digit figures and I hope that will happen. After the Clancy amendment, we anticipated that there would be a sharp rise and measures have been introduced in anticipation of that. More driver testers will...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Driver Test Waiting Lists (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: I acknowledge the particular need for this to be accelerated in rural Ireland where there are difficulties caused by a lack of public transport. We will address that issue.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Driver Test Waiting Lists (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: The RSA has pledged to continue to make improvements and I hope Deputy Troy will acknowledge them.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Taxi Regulations (12 Feb 2019)

Shane Ross: In Ireland, the carrying of passengers in a car for a payment is regulated under the Taxi Regulation Act 2013. The Act provides for the regulation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, sector, which includes taxis, hackneys and limousine services and is commonly referred to as the taxi industry. Under the legislation, the regulation of the SPSV business is carried out by the National...